MARE signs collaboration protocol with IberBlue Wind

With the aim of collaborating on the development of a floating offshore wind farm off Figueira da Foz, MARE and IberBlue Wind (IBW) signed a protocol on December 5 establishing the future partnership.

IBW is a consortium specialized in design, development and management of floating offshore wind farms operating in the Iberian market, which intends to take part in the offshore wind energy auction to be launched by the Portuguese government.

Concerned about the possible impacts of the project on marine flora and fauna, IBW is looking for solutions to mitigate these impacts, boosting fish populations and promoting sustainability in the fishing sector. The collaboration with MARE will make it possible to study the eventual impacts of the installation of the infrastructure on the marine ecosystems of the implementation area, and to propose solutions that mitigate the possible negative impacts on the ecological component and on fishing activity.

Present at the signing of this protocol were MARE Director Pedro Raposo and researchers José Lino Costa and Bernardo Quintella, IBW Director Enrique de Faragó, Manuel Monteiro and Tiago Morais, and FCUL Director Hugo Miranda.

It is hoped that this will result in future joint submissions of applications to European Union funding programs, such as P2030 and Horizon Europe, as well as the provision of specialized services, scientific activities related to the study of aquatic ecosystems, innovation and knowledge transfer activities and other training and dissemination of science.