Our story
A transnational cooperation approach is crucial in this project as it will involve Quadruple Helix stakeholders from different regions and countries of the Euro-MED cooperation area. Therefore, an extensive transnational network of public authorities, researchers and SMEs will be established during the project, encouraging the participation and engagement of partners from different countries. A good dialogue between SMEs is particularly important to support the innovation process and a more competitive economy.
This will have a positive impact on the introduction of new technologies in the programme area.
Partners
Lead partner – Polytechnic University of Turin (Italy): The Politecnico di Torino (POLITO) has relevant experience with EU projects and has 268 approved projects in Horizon 2020, as well as a dedicated office for the management of EU projects since 1995. The aerospace and mechanical department of POLITO, and especially the MOREnergy Lab, have experience in the marine energy field with a specific focus on technology development of offshore wind turbines, Wave Energy Converters and floating PV. The department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering has 15 years of experience in marine energy and since 2015 has founded the MOREnergy Lab. MOREnergy Lab comprises more than 30 members, including PhD students, post-docs and research fellows, who will help to address the tasks at a multidisciplinary and high-quality level. The main activities include numerical modelling, design and optimization, control systems, tank testing of marine energy technologies and resource assessment. The research group has developed high competencies in development of marine energy technologies (e.g. ISWEC device), which has reached an industrial stage in collaboration with the Italian Oil&Gas company ENI since 2017. The research group has developed a MATLAB/Simulink tool (MOST) capable of simulating an offshore wind turbine in the time domain (http://www.morenergylab.polito.it/most/). MOST includes all components of the offshore wind turbine and has shown good comparison with well-known open-source software such as FAST (NREL). Furthermore, MOREnergy Lab is involved in resource assessment as it collaborated within POLITO to develop an open access web platform to support stakeholders in the exploitation of the wave energy resource (https://energyplat.est.polito.it/). Finally, MOREnergy Lab is an active member of the INORE International network of Offshore Renewable Energy which can be used as a channel to increase awareness of the project among early-stage researchers worldwide.
Project Partner 2- UNIVERSITY OF CYPRUS (Cyprus): The Oceanography Centre of the University of Cyprus OC-UCY) has been involved in many European and national research projects. Its infrastructure involves advanced electronic oceanographic equipment and a glider. OC-UCY developed and operates the Cyprus Ocean Forecasting and observing system (CYCOFOS) for operational monitoring and forecasting. Currently, OC-UCY participates in four European and nationalfunded projects (>2M euros). OC-UCY was a partner in the MAESTRALE project which aimed to the promotion of Blue Energy (BE) in the Mediterranean region, through training days and capacity-building events. The main task at the MAESTRALE project was data collection. In addition, OC-UCY is currently participating in THALCHOR 2, a project focusing on marine spatial planning. The experience from this project is directly related to the spatial planning of wind farms. Finally, OC-UCY is a partner in a national project OS-AQUA (Open Sea Aquaculture), having as its main task to identify suitable locations for aquaculture. Other relevant projects such as MENTOR (Blue Career Centre of Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea), SEA4all (Enhancing critical thinking in schools for marine pollution using innovative ICT technologies) and SEA OF EXPERIENCE (Establishment of Eastern Mediterranean Regional Network) aim to the motivation of the youth for a Blue Carrier path through informative days mostly in schools. The participation of OC-UCY in the aforementioned projects enhanced the teaching and skill-transferring abilities of the personnel.
Project Partner 3 – Sapienza University of Rome (Italy): Sapienza University of Rome, which was founded in 1303 in Rome, is one of the oldest universities in the world and one of the top performer in international university rankings. The research unit involved in the proposal is within the Interdepartmental Centre for Territory, Housing, Heritage and Environment (CITERA). CITERA is composed of 6 Departments of the Sapienza University of Rome and about 40 professors from different disciplines. It has extensive experience in participating in and in coordinating EU funded projects in programmes such as H2020, INTERREG, ENICBCMED, etc.. With academic staff from a range of disciplines, together with a highly experienced administration, CITERA combines a breadth of technical expertise with a high level of project management competence. The members of the research unit have an extensive experience in energy related research related to planning, design and operation of integrated energy systems, as well as in developing simulation models for static and dynamic studies related to the integration of distributed generation, demand response, storage systems, emission quantification and EV charge systems in smart and micro grids. Additionally, the research team has an extensive experience on insular energy systems that are the main focus of the project proposal.
Project Partner 4 – Institute of Communication and Computer Systems (Greece): ICCS/NTUA has long experience in power system analysis through various EU and private funded projects. ICCS/NTUA uses a wide range of state of the art tools for steady state and dynamic analysis of power systems (e.g. Power Factory), including wide penetration of Renewables, both on-shore and offshore installations. Furthermore, ICCS has recently participated in a study with Guide-house funded by the Greek TSO (IPTO S.A.). The goal of this study was to analyse the suitable configurations and business models for the transmission grid expansion in order to support future offshore wind farms. The role of ICCS was to analyse and identify the electrical characteristics of the new transmission lines.
Project Partner 5 – Natural Agency of Natural Resources (Albania): The National Agency for Natural Resources (AKBN) has over 20 years of experience in natural resource and renewable energy management. Our technical staff consists of more than 190 people, with part of this staff being energy specialists. AKBN’s main tasks are to monitor the state of RES throughout the country based on the main energy indicators and components in Albania. AKBN has competences and experiences for Dissemination knowledge to stakeholders, Dissemination knowledge to stakeholders, Governance projects synergy and Mobilization of a network of relevant decision-makers.
Project Partner 6 – Energy Institute Hrvoje Požar (Croatia): EIHP is a national energy institute working on the field of renewables for more than 25 years. As such, EIHP is participating in projects related to the new and emerging energy technologies and solutions, such as offshore wind turbines. Until today, the Energy Institute Hrvoje Požar has participated in over 90 projects funded from over 18 different EU programmes and investment funds. The majority of projects was funded from the Intelligent Energy Europe programme (31%), followed closely by projects funded under Horizon 2020. Today, the highest number of projects that the Institute participates in is funded under the European Territorial Cooperation programme (Interreg) and Horizon 2020 programme, and the implemented projects also constitute a broad range of research and development, innovation, policy-making and strategic projects that involve international consortiums formed by well-known and previously established partnerships. EIHP has participated in several research as well as commercial projects related to wind energy, including wind energy potential measurements, selection and evaluation of locations for wind power plants, spatial plan basis, wind studies, environmental impacts studies for wind farms, feasibility studies and technical due diligence reports. On research basis, EIHP produced wind map of Zadar county, based on measurement campaigns. Offshore wind is recognized as one of potential solutions for energy demand, but in Croatian case, there are several technical obstacles, such as wind speed and depth of the sea. Also, there are some legal obstacles that can be observed now, which should be analysed and regulations should be proposed in order to identify possible obstacles and speed up development of offshore wind.
Project Partner 7 – Environment Programme (Montenegro):The non-governmental organization EnvPro was founded in 2015 with a mission introducing innovative approaches and standards and creating examples of good practice, such as sites of excellence, EnvPro contributes to the renewal and sustainability of nature as a basic prerequisite for economic and social development of Montenegro and the long term region. In the period 2016-2022, the organization implemented several projects in the mentioned areas, one of which is “Accelerating solar energy deployment in coastal municipalities of the Adriatic region”, funded trough EU Climate Initiative – EUKI, Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Germany.
Project Partner 8 – CNET CENTRE FOR NEW ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES SA (Portugal): EDP NEW is the R&D department of EDP, an energy utility with expertise on renewable energy including offshore wind and has great experience in EU funded projects related to renewable energy. In the past years EDP NEW has been specializing in offshore energy, particularly wind, investigating disruptive technologies and developing techno-economic models for the assessment of this energy carrier. EDP NEW has also carried out a study commissioned by the European Commission, to investigate the offshore energy potential of the Atlantic Arc. As part of this study, EDP NEW developed tools for resource assessment, LCOE evaluation and grid integration. EDP NEW also developed an in-house grid planning tool used to investigate and benchmark different grid options (radial and meshed networks)
