OCEANERA-NET

OCEANERA-NET

European Research Area Network for Ocean Energy

OCEANERA-NET is a European network of national and regional funders and managers of European R&I programs in the field of ocean energy. Ocean energy includes the production of renewable electricity from wave and tidal energy, salinity gradient, and ocean thermal energy conversion.

OCEANERA-NET was a European project funded by the European Commission that began in December 2013 and lasted four years. This project was coordinated by Scottish Enterprise, the Regional Economic Development Agency for the lowlands of Scotland. The OCEANERA-NET consortium included 15 partners from eight European countries (Belgium, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Ireland, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and Sweden) open to opportunities for collaboration with other European and non-European countries to address common challenges.

The aim of OCEANERA-NET was to coordinate funding programs between European countries and regions to support research and innovation in the ocean energy sector. OCEANERA-NET was one of several initiatives to help address the R&I challenges relating to the role that ocean energy can play in contributing to future renewable energy targets, economic growth, and job creation. OCEANERA-NET worked alongside the Joint Program on Ocean Energy of the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA), Technology Platform, and Ocean Energy Forum to develop a common vision and coordinated action plan.

The consortium agreed on a roadmap of tasks to achieve the implementation of joint activities, such as Calls for transnational collaborative R&I projects. OCEANERA-NET launched two Calls , in October 2014 and February 2016.