Skip to main content
Oceans and fisheries
News announcement28 March 2018Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries

Ocean energy – a sustainable blue growth opportunity for Europe

On 27 March, Commissioner Vella met with 20 leading companies operating in the ocean energy sector in various parts of Europe.

A strong supporter of renewable forms of energy "made in Europe", the Commissioner reaffirmed his belief that by 2030 the oceans could provide energy to millions of Europeans, and his ambition to consolidate and expand the European Union’s position as a world leader in ocean energy.

Indeed, the idea of ocean energy as the next renewable source of energy is gaining momentum. The first tidal farms in European waters are being deployed and with more and more devices being tested in water, performance is improving dramatically.

There is however still a long way ahead, and the Commission is taking several measures to lighten the investment and risk burden for developers

  • We have set up financing platforms such as the InnovFin Energy Demo Project and targeted support for innovating SMEs.
  • We are organising a business-investors matchmaking event for the blue economy called BlueInvest (Brussels, 17 May).
  • We supported 17 projects since 2014, generating a total investment of some 270 million euros. This has helped to increase reliability and performance and will eventually reduce costs
  • We are helping European regions to invest in technological developments, test centres and port infrastructures

Commissioner Vella reassured the companies that oceans are bound to remain a priority also in the next generation of EU-funds after 2020. Also Member States should take leadership in this area and cooperate with the European Commission to create stable conditions for the sector to find its route to market.

Details

Publication date
28 March 2018
Author
Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries