Sustainable Marine Partners with Portugal’s blueOASIS on Clean Energy

[By: Sustainable Marine]

Sustainable Marine has formed a strategic partnership with Portugal’s blueOASIS to develop a range of ‘SIDS-appropriate’ marine renewable energy solutions, that can help unlock the vast ocean energy potential of Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

The partnership will combine the firms’ respective world-class expertise in technical Research & Development to support the wider Blue Economy, and practical experience in delivering modular marine energy systems in environments with limited infrastructure.

Sustainable Marine specialises in the development of modular platforms, mooring and anchoring solutions for marine renewable energy, floating wind and nearshore structures. Fast-expanding R&D and Consultancy firm, blueOASIS focuses on performing state-of-the-art applied research to foster secure, clean and efficient sustainable maritime solutions, and promote full decarbonization of the oceans.

This announcement follows the launch of the Global Ocean Energy Alliance (GLOEA), at this year’s UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, designed to address the needs of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and coastal developing countries - particularly least developed countries (LDCs) - providing greater access to ocean energy technology, finance and expertise (see notes to editors). GLOEA was officially formed by the Small Island Sustainable Energy and Climate Resilience Organization (SIDS DOCK) in partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Stimson Center Alliance for a Climate Resilient Earth (ACRE).

Energy accounts for the highest share of imports to SIDS, which are almost entirely dependent on fossil fuel imports for electricity generation and transport. However, huge opportunity lies dormant in their vast ocean territories and Exclusive Economic Zones, which represent 30 per cent of all oceans and seas.

Sustainable Marine CEO Jason Hayman said if effectively harnessed, ocean energy will spur economic diversification, deliver energy resilience and provide a clean alternative to displace diesel-fuelled energy generation, enabling the development of truly sustainable blue economies within SIDS’ vast ocean jurisdictions.

“A clear message was delivered throughout the UN Ocean Conference week - we must invest in our blue economy to build our green economy,” said Mr Hayman. “It is now widely acknowledged that the Sustainable development of our oceans is both imperative and intrinsic in solving the climate crisis. While there is huge opportunity to innovate across the blue economy sector at large, ocean energy offers a unique long-term solution to dramatically accelerate and sustain the energy transition. The challenge is to develop technology solutions that are relevant for SIDS and coastal developing countries, which are currently experiencing a savage economic shock due the rapidly rising cost of diesel.

“As a company, Sustainable Marine has developed a formidable track record developing marine renewable energy systems to power blue economy solutions. We have been largely focussed on instream tidal energy systems for the past decade, and our team have been involved in deploying modular, community-scale systems in Canada, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Singapore, Indonesia, and South Korea. Our latest project in Canada, which recently started delivering energy to the local electricity grid, is located in a channel between two islands and was designed to be assembled and launched at a small local shipyard close to the site. These types of systems are ideal for island and coastal countries as they can be built, launched, installed and maintained using local infrastructure with capacity easily scaled-up as required through the deployment of multiple systems. Through our new partnership with blueOASIS we will combine our extensive knowledge and knowhow in this specialist sector, to develop solutions that can harvest energy from a variety of renewable energy sources, and provide the necessary industry expertise to support new initiatives like GLOEA and help deliver the United Nations’ broader Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”

By 2030 the blue economy is expected to more than double its contribution to global value added, reaching over USD 3 trillion, creating more than 40 million jobs. Aside from ocean energy technologies, the sector requires widespread innovation across fisheries, aquaculture, desalination, freshwater, biotechnology, ocean intelligence, shipping and port services.

Sustainable Marine and BlueOASIS’ new partnership aligns with several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including; SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, SDG 10 Reduce Inequalities, SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG Resonsible Consumption and Production, SDG 13 Climate Action, SDG 14 Life Below Water, SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals.

“The UN Ocean Conference provided the perfect backdrop to launch our partnership with Sustainable Marine, with new global initiatives like GLOEA kickstarting a new chapter in global ocean action,” said blueOASIS CEO Guilherme Vaz. “The motto of blueOASIS ‘Making the world green and the oceans blue’, seems to be in perfect harmony with UN Ocean conference main message: we need blue to be green. And we must do this all together, since there are no borders when talking about ocean sustainability and climate change. Therefore, international alliances like this are essential to build a bridge between technology developers like Sustainable Marine and R&D consultancy companies like blueOASIS. Together we will redouble our efforts to deliver progressive solutions for the Blue Economy sector at large, working in harmony with nature. The focus in this particular SIDS context is to scale down the existing complex and expensive structures and make them affordable. We have to democratize renewable energy, to make it accessible to smaller economies with minimal supporting infrastructure.”

Sustainable Marine specialises in the development of modular platforms, mooring and anchoring solutions for marine renewable energy, floating wind and nearshore structures. Fast-expanding R&D and Consultancy firm, blueOasis, focuses on performing state-of-the-art and leading-edge applied research to foster secure, clean and efficient sustainable maritime solutions, and promote full decarbonization of the oceans.