Progress report for
Investing in the sustainable blue economy in the European Union
Achievement at a glance
Following a call for proposals, the EU has selected projects for grant funding. Implementationhas been on track and most projects have been finalised. 66% of the projects underwent changes in their Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) thanks to
the actions financed, particularly within the “Ocean health and observation” cluster (e.g. FleetUSV). A substantial percentage of projects (35%) generated new Intellectual Property (IP) and patents, with the “Renewable energy” cluster (e.g. ATOMS; Aerones, SATHScale, and WaveFarm), leading in this aspect. Several projects indicated that the new skills and experience gained were widely transferrable among their current sector and other sectors and industries.
Regarding revenues, many projects anticipated positive changes, especially within the “Renewable energy” and “Bioeconomy, aquaculture, and fisheries” clusters. 62% of all projects have either evidence of some form of commercialisation plan; 30% of all projects having evidence of a commercialisation plan in place and 32% having evidence of the implementation of a commercialisation plan.
Challenges faced in implementation
- Digitalisation: projects that convert information from a physical to a digital format, or, more generally, that incorporate digital technologies into existing business processes, with the goal of improving them.- Investment and new business models: (i) to develop new business models, (ii) optimise existing business models to improve profitability and / or “bankability”; reduce capital expenditure (CAPEX) and / or operational expenditure (OPEX).
Next Steps
Benedicte CaremierBeneficiaries
2019
TITLE ACRONYM Coordinator
WaveRoller Wave Farm Scale-Up - Preparing to deploy the world’s first commercial wave energy farm - WaveFarm Aw-Energy OY
Future of the Ocean Data Collection Market: Commercialisation of the novel Low-cost, Efficient, High-performing Autonomous Unmanned Surface Vessel
FleetUSV XOCEAN LIMITED
Support InnovaFeed in its next level innovation and industrial deployment across Europe InnovaFeed BEW 2019 INNOVAFEED
Auxiliary Towable Operation and Maintenance System for Offshore Wind Towers ATOMS ESTEYCO SA Low-cost and flexible onshore power supply for containerships consumers’ and onboard batteries charging PowerFLEX PowerCon A/S
Offshore Robotic Wind Turbine Blade Care System Aerones SIA AERONES ENGINEERING
Foldable Shipping Containers for Sustainable Blue Growth ZboxBlueLogistics NAVLANDIS SOCIEDAD LIMITADA
Retrofit Fuel and Emissions Reduction for Large Ship Engines CleanerShip FUELSAVE GMBH
SEASAM-Autonomous Inspection SEASAM-AI NOTILO PLUS
Engineering and upscaling of new floating renewable wind energy platform SATHScale SAITEC SA
Development and commercialisation of safe, effective and user-friendly photonics based sea lice removal system for salmon farms
Photolicer ATLANTIC PHOTONIC SOLUTIONS LIMITED
2020
TITLE ACRONYM Coordinator
Breakthrough electromagnetics detection, navigation and characterization ESENSE ELWAVE SAS
Eco-friendly and sustainable new family of biopesticides based on microalgae via circular economy approach ALGAENAUTS BIORIZON BIOTECH SOCIEDAD LIMITADA
Ship stabilizer for all season, fuel economy optimized, comfortable and safe crew transfer in the offshore and maritime industry 4SeasonCTV DACOMA APS / TUCO YACHT VAERFT APS
Replacing soy with Pekilo protein in aquafeed AquaPekilo ENIFERBIO OY
Collaborative platform for shipping container operations to take control of CO2 emissions by route optimisation CO2NTROL BUYCO / SEAROUTES
Transition to Emission-free Commuting on Waterways TECOW GREEN CITY FERRIES AB
Fish substitute from algae to preserve marine wildlife and develop algaculture SEAFOOD ALGTERNATIVE ALGAMA - SPRINGWAVE
OceanWINgs: the NEW wind propulsion technology to lead the shipping industry’s shift towards a blue economy WINNEW OCEANWINGS
The automated wing to power ships, providing 20% of fuel savings and emissions reduction Seawing4Blue AIRSEAS
Large scale sea cultivation of green seaweed ULVA FARM NORDIC SEAFARM AB
An innovative, sector-leading seaweed biorefinery - enabling the European blue circular economy KELP-EU OCEANIUM LTD
Actions
The European Union's BlueInvest platform was launched in 2019 to provide investment readiness assistance to blue economy start-ups and SMEs as well as matchmaking with private investors. This was followed by an intermediated equity instrument supported by InvestEU and the EIB (European Investment Bank) Group to strengthen the Venture Capital ecosystem for young blue economy companies in Europe.Since its launch, BlueInvest has benefited over 330 start-ups and scale-ups in the sustainable blue economy, helping them secure more than EUR 300 million in investments. The platform has also engaged over 300 investors and enabled the launch of new dedicated blue funds.