Conference on wave energy at Arkinova

The Arkinova Activity Generator hosted a day devoted to studies and projects for harnessing wave energy in the regions of Euskadi and Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

With 870 km of coastline, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Euskadi region has great potential for producing energy generated by the waves of the Atlantic Ocean.  Studies and experiments are being carried out and projects are being developed focused on producing energy from wave power as well as from estuarial currents. The energy potential from wave energy converters in Nouvelle-Aquitaine is estimated at more than 800 MW.

On 11 July, as part of the BlueSare project, the Basque Country Urban Authority and its partners – the Basque Energy Cluster, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region and the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Development and Innovation Agency – organised a workshop dedicated to wave energy at the Arkinova Activity Generator. Around forty stakeholders involved in renewable marine energies came to find out about and share the cross-border programs specific to this wave powered energy.

The BlueSare project run by the Basque Energy Cluster in partnership with the Basque Country Urban Authority and supported by the Aquitaine-Euskadi-NavarreEuroregion was presented there. Its aim is to support the development of a Euroregional offer for renewable marine energies, and to promote it internationally so that the region can become a benchmark in the field of RMEs.

Amongst the regional projects, the forthcoming call for proposals for the identification of areas of interest was presented during the conference on July 11. This public contract in the form of an innovation partnership will be launched by the Basque Country Urban Authority in partnership with the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region. Its aims are to refine the definition of potential installation sites for a wave energy farm, to embark upon planning the conditions for the emergence of a wave energy industry and to launch a wave energy expertise centre in the south of the Aquitaine region.

Finally, this conference on wave energy also hosted a conference on the BIMEP (Biscay Marine Energy Platform) project, a wave energy trial centre located off the coast of Armintza 20 km from Bilbao and on the Mutriku wave energy power plant also on the Spanish Basque coast. These two sites have been established for several years and bear witness to the energy potential of waves in the region.