First call for ocean energy demonstration
An ocean energy technology demonstration programme encouraging longer-term demonstration and technology de-risking across the Atlantic Area regions has announced its first call for applications.
The first call of the €2.5m Blue-GIFT (Blue Growth and Innovation Fast Tracked) project, which aims to support a minimum of eight floating wind, wave or tidal demonstration related projects across the Atlantic Area region, offers support package vouchers to ocean energy companies for access to demonstration sites across the Atlantic Area, lowering costs for testing and validating technologies in real sea environments.
Ruari Brooker, Blue-GIFT project manager at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), said: “Blue-GIFT will provide a significant boost to getting ocean energy demonstrator projects into the water throughout the Atlantic Area, maximising the use of existing infrastructure across the region.
“The project will utilise the skills, processes and expertise developed in the Interreg NWE FORESEA programme to support the development of the ocean energy sector in the Atlantic Area region, helping to stimulate economic and technological development.”
Accessible
Blue-GIFT, funded by Interreg Atlantic Area, is open to any type of enterprise wishing to demonstrate ocean energy technologies in real-sea conditions. The applicant must own the technology (or rights to the technology) being tested or validated.
A series of test site access vouchers will be offered to successful applicants to support testing of devices and subsystems at BiMEP (wave and floating wind) in Spain; PLOCAN (wave and floating wind) in Gran Canaria, Spain; SEENEOH (hydrokinetic and tidal) in France; and WavEC (wave and floating wind test centre) in Portugal.
The call will close on 6 September.
By Rebecca Jeffrey
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