Innovative multi-use projects combining offshore renewable energy with other activities and/or with nature protection in the Atlantic

Objective:

This call topic supports the Atlantic Maritime Strategy priority to develop marine renewable energy. The specific objective is to support the development and uptake of multi-use between marine renewable energies (especially emerging ones such as wave, tidal and floating wind) and other blue economy activities and/or with nature protection (e.g. marine protected areas).

Scope:

Under this call Topic 1, we seek to fund projects that will develop multi-use integrated solutions to offshore renewable energy developments. Multi-use can be understood in the sense of two or more activities operating at the same place and/or one or more activities operating within a nature protection area (e.g. Natura 2000 ). Ideally, projects will integrate both of these two types of multi-use.

The projects should bring a radical change from the concept of exclusive resource rights to the inclusive sharing of resources by one or more uses. The possible activities to consider for co-existence with marine renewable energy include, amongst others: sustainable aquaculture, ocean observation, fisheries, maritime transport and tourism. A nature protection area can be understood as any form of protection or restoration applied to a specific area with the necessary monitoring and control that it requires.

Projects must focus on a specific multi-use, integrated solution that is clearly explained in the proposal, including justification of the choice in terms of the expected economic, environmental and social benefits. Only activities that make a substantive contribution to environmentally sustainable objectives and that do no significant harm to any other environmental objectives will be considered in the scope of this call for proposals.

Projects and their activities must focus on the Atlantic and include at least two EU Member States in the Atlantic Maritime Strategy (France, Ireland, Portugal and Spain).

Projects will advance multi-use, integrated offshore renewable energy solutions towards the commercial phase. Activities will vary depending on the maturity of the multi-use concept targeted in the proposal. In their proposals, applicants will describe clearly the chosen concept and its maturity level and the relevant activities they will implement to develop the solutions.

Applicants should explain in their proposal how the proposed solutions build on the results of, or will exploit synergies with, relevant EU and other projects and initiatives in the area of multi-use solutions including offshore renewable energy. Those projects include the ones reviewed in a recent technical background study published by the Commission: MULTIFRAME, UNITED, MUSICA, MARIBE, MERMAID, TROPOS, MUSES, Space@ Sea, Edulis, Wier&Wind, ORECCA, H2OCEAN and CO-EXIST.

Proposals focusing on early stage concepts will include activities to develop the concept and business case. These will include:

• Cost-benefit analysis, market study, business planning, identifying investors.
• Forming partnerships between business, investors, authorities, environmental organisations and other stakeholders, e.g. through matchmaking activities.
• Identification of sites and preparatory activities for licensing/consenting applications.

Proposals focusing on more mature concepts will include activities to demonstrate the benefits of the solution and bring it closer to market-readiness. These will include:

• Preparing a business case, highlighting the funding needed, with a view to ensuring sustainability and continuity of the pilot initiative.
• Trials, validation, demonstration and testing of offshore technologies/devices for multi-use integrated solutions.

All proposals will include activities to monitor and improve the environmental performance of the proposed multi-use, offshore renewable energy solutions. These will include:

• Design of a multi-stakeholder and circular approach to ensure stakeholder acceptance and optimal resource use.
• Development of models to monitor the impact of the multi-use offshore renewable solutions on the surrounding marine habitats and species, in line with relevant legislation on data (e.g. INSPIRE ) and using relevant tools (e.g. EMODnet .)
• Preparation of methods to track and measure the carbon budget of the whole project.

All proposals should include additional, complementary activities (at least one) that support the main activities and the call topic objectives. Examples include:

• Stakeholder engagement, networking, awareness raising and dissemination activities.
• Pitching or other events to engage corporates and investors, such as the BlueInvest events.

Proposals may include other activities, provided they are justified and in line with the call topic objectives.

Expected Impact:

Applicants will describe in their proposals the concrete and measurable results within the duration of the project and their expected impact, including indicators for the monitoring and measurement of progress.

Projects are expected to achieve the following impacts:

• New concepts for multi-use, offshore renewable energy solutions in the sustainable blue economy.
• A framework for integrated planning and multi-use.
• Increased co-location of blue economy activities for more sustainable use of marine space.
• New business and job prospects in the sustainable blue economy.
• New partnerships between the renewable energy industry and corporates/investors from other maritime sectors.
• Increased understanding of, and evidence on, the environmental and social impacts (positive and negative) of multi-use, offshore renewable energy solutions.
• Increased capacity to match renewable energy industry players with other sectors and with investors in the Atlantic area for collaboration on pilot projects.
• Sustainable new business opportunities with a clear case and strategy for continuation beyond the pilot stage.

The list of impacts is non-exhaustive and applicants are expected to include others, as appropriate for their proposal.