On October 11 Teamwork Technology – supported by the Dutch Marine Energy Centre (DMEC) , WavEC Offshore Renewables, Sines Tecnopolo and APS (Ports of Sines and the Algarve Authority) signed a Letter of Intent for the set up of a basic sea testing facility. The signing took place on the occasion of the State Visit to Portugal by the King and Queen of the Netherlands in Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisbon.
The harbour of Sines has been indicated as a preferred location for such facility because the testing of sea technologies requires preferably deep water, good infrastructure support, proximity to a harbour and appropriate wave and wind resources.
The facility will suit the purpose of technology development and in-situ testing of technologies but will also have educational and dissemination purposes. It will be open to trainees that will receive hand-on experience in developing, building and operating the devices, building professional human capacity for this new industry.
This Centre is aligned with the report “Energia no Mar – Roteiro para uma estratégia industrial das Energias Renováveis Oceânicas”, approved by the Portuguese Government at the end of 2016 as a strategic vision for the sector in Portugal.
Portugal is in a phase of strong political drive and entrepreneurial interest to transfer recent progress in the areas of marine renewable energy, offshore aquaculture and adjacent sectors to economic activities in the ocean.
The Netherlands has developed substantial water management know-how that led to a significant offshore industry in the field of oil & gas and dredging worldwide. Nowadays this industry got also involved in marine renewable energy.
To develop the Marine Renewable Energy opportunities, there is a need for a cooperation between both countries to combine the know-how of the Dutch offshore industry and the Portuguese supply chain and home market.
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