The public universities of the Basque Country, Navarre and Bordeaux join forces in a common project to create a high-level development and training hub in the field of marine renewables

Generating innovative methods, products, and services from renewable marine resources in the Bay of Biscay is the aim of the “Renewables” project, spearheaded by the public universities of the Basque Country, Navarre, and Bordeaux. The project will receive European funding to create a hub for developing these types of marine energy technologies in the Euroregion. The project is being led by the E-CLEDER research group, in which the Bilbao School of Engineering actively participates.

This collaborative milestone, which has now been endowed with a small sum of €47,449, was selected in the second call for proposals in 2020 within the“Knowledge Economy” area for the New Aquitaine-Euskadi-Navarra regionTherefore, it will serve as support, especially through research staff, to jointly apply for European project calls and train highly qualified professionals in the marine energy sector in different areas: equipment manufacturing, conversion technology, or offshore wind farm management; among others.

The project’s activities are primarily focused on a comprehensive sustainability strategy, emphasizing adaptation to climate change through resilient design and withparticipation of renewable energiess. To this end, public universities have the support, in terms of coordination, of the Erasmus Mundus Master in Renewable Energies in the Marine Environment, a pioneering channel in this field and rated 89 out of 100 by ACEA, an agency of the European Agency.

The initiative closely examines established projects such as BIMEP, Mutriko, Seeneoh, and Cener, all located in this European region, whose importance is vital in the medium to long term. To foster this cooperative system on which the project is based, collaboration between the Chambers of Commerce of the three regions will be encouraged, as well as the interaction of strategic clusters and regional technology alliances. All of this is aimed at making marine renewables a driver of technological, social, and economic development for a region whose economy and society are deeply intertwined with the sea.