InescTec.Ocean is the first Portuguese center of its kind and wants to invest in the blue economy as early as 2025.
The new research center that will be created next year in Porto is the sixth Portuguese program to be financed by the European program Horizon Europe, through the Teaming for Excellence competition, says .
O InescTec, creator of the projectwill therefore have the support of 15 million euros from this fund, which will have to be matched with another 15 million in support from the Portuguese State.
The center’s objective is to invest in the oceanic sector, not so much in the research part as in the increase the country’s indicators in ocean engineering, like the number of doctorates or from companies created in these sectors.
Portugal has 1.7 million square kilometers of exclusive economic zonewhich translates into the third largest area in Europe, and represents 95% of the territory under Portuguese jurisdiction.
The former president of José Manoel Mendonçaexplains to Público that “our territory has privileged conditions for the development of the blue economy and can now count on a center of excellence that aims, through research and ocean engineering, to leverage all this potential”.
Diana Viegas, a researcher at the institute, tells Público that in the first two years the center’s work will focus on the energy market offshore – whether wave, solar or wind.
“There are few companies, little is known, regulation is based on that which exists for oil and gas, which may not be adaptable. And there is a need to evolution from a technological point of view: It is difficult to have humans operating in the ocean, so it is important to have permanent autonomous systems and energy generation and infrastructures that resist adverse sea conditions”, says Viegas.
Later, says the researcher, “as we use the sea more, there will be more need for monitor”, which will encourage investment in other emerging areas such as aquaculture offshore.
The Teaming for Excellence competition requires a partnership between an institute from a country where scientific performance is below the European average (Portugal) with an excellent research institute from another country, which in this case will be Norwegian. In 2025, Porto will already have new developments in ocean engineering, which wants to invest heavily in the blue economy.
