AREG invites member input for EU marine energy project

Working with organizations across Europe, the Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG) is calling for input from its members as it looks to draw up an international strategy for marine energy.

As part of the EU-backed marine energy project titled Europe Leading Blue Energy (ELBE), AREG has set up an event for May 22, 2018, where its members will hear about the project whose goal is to position Europe as the world technological and industrial leader in blue energy.

The member showcase event will also include presentations from Wood, Xodus, and 1CSI, AREG said.

The ELBE project is part of the European Union’s Cluster Collaboration Platform and has been selected as the main representative of the energy sector during the recent call first stage, according to AREG.

The 18-month project will be implemented by a consortium of organizations, which includes AREG, Flanders’ Maritime Cluster from Belgium, Offshoreväst from Sweden, and Offshoreenergy.dk from Denmark, under the co-ordination of the Basque Energy Cluster in Spain.

The purpose of ELBE during the first phase is to forge business and define a joint internationalization strategy to be launched in the second phase.

It is expected that phase one will create new EU cross-border and cross-sectoral business alliances and will identify business opportunities for SMEs in the emerging global offshore wind, wave and tidal markets.

The partners also plan to deliver a strategy for European businesses to enter global markets and create an alliance with a clear focus and which is ready for internationalization, according to AREG.

Jean Morrison, Chair of AREG, said: “There is a real drive across Europe for marine energy technological development – particularly wave, tidal and floating wind power which are part of this initiative scope. There is also a global demand for clean power which our businesses help create.

“This is a great opportunity for our members to get involved and find out about new markets by sharing knowledge and offering support.”

Among other activities, the project aims to conduct market analysis in the main non-European countries involved in marine energy developments, alliance participation in international events and the organization of several networking and technical events among the companies of the different regions.

The partners involved represent 532 organizations, 17 blue energy test and demonstration centers, 24 wave energy developers, seven tidal developers and seven floating offshore wind developers.

AREG works on behalf of its members to promote the capabilities of companies and organizations in the North East of Scotland and around the UK in the renewable energy sector, and to assist them in accessing new opportunities in this field.