Streamlining the Assessment of Environmental Effects of Wave Energy

There are many uncertainties in the Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) sector concerning environmental pressures and impacts.

The objective of the SafeWAVE project is to remove certain non-technological barriers that could limit the development of ocean energy.

These non-technological barriers were the focus of the WESE project (http://www.wese-project.eu/) funded by EMFF in 2018.

SafeWAVE is built on the feedback and first results of the WESE project and aims to progress on the following objectives:

• Development of a European research strategy based on offshore demonstration, relying on the processing, modelling, analysis and sharing of environmental data on wave energy collected in different European countries where wave engine prototypes are currently being tested (the Mutriku plant in Spain, Aguçadora in Portugal, and the SEM-REV site in France).
• The SafeWAVE project aims to improve our understanding of the negative, positive or neutral effects of wave projects. The project builds on the work carried out in WESE, to continue to add to the knowledge base on the priority research areas by extending the scope of the research to other types of technologies, sites and countries.
• Development of a planning and regulatory strategy by providing advice to wave technology developers and public authorities responsible for providing authorisations for wave projects in France and Ireland. This strategy will be based on the regulatory specificities of each country and will be assisted by the decision support tool for maritime spatial planning developed for Spain and Portugal within the WESE project. The main output will be recommendations/guidelines for wave technology developers and public authorities for most European countries along the Atlantic Arc.
• Development of a public engagement and education strategy to support collaborative work with coastal communities in France, Ireland, Portugal and Spain, and thereby co-develop and define a public engagement and education plan for MRE by improving the existing literature and the quality of public debate.