The overall objective for the project is to achieve a successful demonstration of the novel designs and materials for an ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) platform capable of converting solar heat energy stored in the oceans surrounding the Overseas Countries and Territories of the EU, Small Islands and Developing States, and the Asian and African continent into reliable, baseload power with an economical cost model. The following objectives have been identified: Technical Specification: Design prototype components using circular materials and computational Modelling tools (Predictive Modelling tools developed and/or refined) Research Material Properties Build and Installation of Demonstrator: Floating Platform & testing in controlled and real-worldsettings Econometric, Environmental and Social Impact Assessments This project marries both technical advancements in marine engineering and new materials and computational modelling enabling lower CAPEX expenditure for Marine Offshore OTEC. These engineering and materials gains are transferable to other renwable energies and their offshore installations, as well as more generally for marine engineering needs. Social, Environmental and Economic impacts are taken account of in this proposal and are the key mechanism for knowlegde creationa nd dissemination.

ETIP Ocean 2 has 3 strategic objectives: - Ensure optimal use of existing resources for the sector and streamline sectoral activities; - Support and accelerate European and global deployment of ocean energy; - Ensure that the potential benefits for European industry and society are maximised. The European ocean energy sector has major potential. To reach this potential sectoral stakeholders must collaborate, share knowledge, and avoid the duplication of efforts. There is also a need for close cooperation between the public and private stakeholders. The ETIP Ocean 2 project has been designed to deliver this. Stakeholder exchanges via the ETIP Ocean platform will be strengthened. A series of structured and targeted webinars and workshops will be organised. These will cover the key challenges facing the ocean energy sector – in the domains of technology, finance, social and environmental – and will allow stakeholders from across the sector to exchange and coordinate. Based upon stakeholder exchanges, a series of accessible and information-based studies and reports will be released. The work to produce these publications will focus exchanges, and will help ensure that learnings from the project are widely disseminated. They will be accessible to those who did not participate directly, and will preserve learnings beyond the lifetime of the project. Finally, ETIP Ocean 2 will support the coordination of public and private stakeholders. By acting as a bridge to the SET Plan Ocean Energy Working Group, ETIP Ocean 2 will ensure that sectoral activities are aligned with the actions and objectives of the SET Plan Ocean Energy Implementation Plan. The ETIP Ocean 2 project will engage all stakeholders and foster cooperation; align stakeholders to commonly agreed goals; find novel approaches to the development of technological and social processes related to the energy transition, and coordinate stakeholders in the context of the SET Plan Ocean Energy Implementation Plan.

The Portuguese Government has approved the Industrial Strategy for Ocean Renewable Energies (EI-ERO) with the aim of developing the country’s offshore wind potential. According to EI-ERO, offshore renewable energies have the potential to supply 25% of the electricity consumed annually in Portugal and create a new export chain in these new technologies. The government envisages that potential exports in this field could increase up to ten times the current employment in the active sectors, with the greatest potential for exports seen in the development of the floating wind technology. The overall objective of TWIND is to create a network of excellence that will dynamize a pool of specialized research professionals and trainers in the domain of offshore wind energy to support an emerging industry in Portugal in a field with a very strong anticipated growth and no dedicated existing training curriculum. WavEC will be the pivot research institution of the low performing Member State (Portugal) coordinating efforts with internationally-leading counterparts at the EU level (Spain, UK and The Netherlands) and enhancing its excellence and innovation capacity through the exchange of knowledge with these leading research organizations. The combining capabilities of partners will open the grounds to exploit existing research results and invest in developing more knowledge. These objectives will be fulfilled through a set of strategic activities well-structured throughout the project including specific training programmes on thematic topics, short-term scientific meetings, long-term staff visits, networking meetings, attendance to relevant conferences in the field, knowledge transfer workshops with stakeholders and an annual event. The networking activities and exchange of knowledge will stimulate research activities and highly qualified services that impact the economy and the society, thus benefitting not only WavEC and the partner organisations, but in general Portugal.