MUSICA Project Receives Welcome Political Support

MUSICA Project Receives Welcome Political Support

By Graham UCC on December 17, 2021 in MUSICA News Articles, Press Release

The MUSICA Project received welcome support from political leaders and municipality representatives of Chios and Oinousses, Greece, at a recent virtual information session.

The event was held as part of the projects ongoing commitment to efforts to maintain transparency and high engagement levels with residents of the islands in relation to ongoing developments within MUSICA.

The free event featured leading participants from the project discussing a number of important aspects regarding MUSICA progress, as well as highlighting the benefits the project is seeking to bring to the island of Oinousses.

The event covered the ongoing Environmental Impact Assessment procedures, the potential for Aquaculture opportunities and the Desalination process in addition to a case study on the Municipal Desalinated Water Network on the island of Chios.

The event attracted considerable political interest, with the Presidents of the Municipalities of Chios and Oinousses both in attendance. The General Secretary for the Municipality of Chios, Antonios Zervakis, attended the event and reaffirmed the Municipality’s support in the MUSICA Project as well as its commitment to participation in the creation of an energy community. “The Municipality of Chios, in realizing the need to utilize renewable energy sources, is an active supporter of the innovative MUSICA project.” In addition, the Mayor of Oinousses, George Daniil, spoke and reaffirmed the Municipality’s continued support during the information session.

MUSICA is an innovative project committed to the planning and development of a Multi-purpose Platform, which will generate electricity from wind, waves and the sun to enhance the energy supply in the area of Oinousses. The region was specifically selected by the European Union for a trial solution to problems such as power and water outages regularly faced by small island and coastal areas. The Multi-purpose Platform utilizes available energy sources, in addition to offering potential for job creation.

MUSICA Info Session Nov 24
MUSICA Info Session Nov 24

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MUSICA Makes Key Contribution to International Energy Agency Publication

MUSICA Makes Key Contribution to International Energy Agency Publication

By Graham UCC on October 15, 2021 in MUSICA News Articles, Press Release

The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Technology Collaboration programme on Ocean Energy Systems (OES) recently published in-depth interviews with six key players in the ocean energy sector, including MUSICA Project Coordinator Dr Gordon Dalton.

This publication is the second one of a series of interviews on projects and initiatives on prospective market opportunities for ocean energy in several parts of the world.

In the interview, Dr Dalton, Senior research fellow at PLOCAN in the Canary Islands, and coordinator of MARIBE and MUSICA European funded projects, responds to whether multiple-use of space or multi-use platforms can have viable economic futures.

Commenting on these six interviews, Yann-Hervé, Chairman of the IEA-OES said, “We see in these examples that ocean energy technologies can be an attractive option for different energy markets within the Blue Economy, which needs to be fully compatible with the energy transition. It is important to consider how appropriate policies in regulation, licensing and financing can support their adoption.

“Stakeholder interviews conducted by IEA-OES show that small islands present a compelling argument for the exploitation of their ocean energy resource potential, and the importance of engaging local communities and local authorities in a dialogue that highlights these projects as a platform for job creation and social improvement. Energy problems faced by many islands and coastal regions can be solved by harnessing the available renewable energy resources of the sun, wind and ocean to supply electricity and freshwater. The idea of multi-use of the sea can be an efficient allocation of compatible activities in the same ocean space providing socioeconomic and environmental benefits.”

Dr Dalton said of MUSICA’s participation in the IEA brochure, “We are pleased to be able to participate in this publication and expand in detail upon the goals of the MUSICA Project. The challenges faced by Island and coastal communities in terms of energy sources requires innovative approaches and we believe MUSICA offers one such solution that will allow an effective transition to clean and renewable energy sources. We welcomed the opportunity to participate with the IEA project whose aim is to provide an understanding of the potential of ocean energy to co-locate with aquaculture and to supply energy for the sector.”

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About MUSICA

MUSICA, which stands for “Multiple Use of Space for Island Clean Autonomy”, is a recent European-funded project, coordinated by Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN). The project is seeking to accelerate the roadmap to commercialisation of a combination of Multi-Use Platform (MUP) and Multi-use of Space (MUS) for the small island market. The Greek island of Oinousses was selected as a trial for this multipurpose floating offshore platform.

MUSICA will provide a full suite of Blue Growth solutions including:

  • Three forms of renewable energy (RE) (wind, PV and wave), providing high RES penetration and competitively affordable electricity.
  • Innovative energy storage systems on the MUP, will provide all required storage for power on the island and platform, as well as electrical output smoothening (compressed air storage and batteries).
  • Smart energy system for the island, including: demand response, modelling and forecasting based on high flexibility services from distributed generation.
  • Desalinated water made by desalination unit on the MUP powered by RES providing 1000m3 fresh water for a water stressed island.
  • “Green” support services for island’s aquaculture production.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 15/10/2021

Contact Name: Graham Lynch

Project: MUSICA

Email: grahamlynch@ucc.ie

PLOCAN takes over coordination of EU funded projects GRRIP and MUSICA

PLOCAN takes over coordination of EU funded projects GRRIP and MUSICA

By Graham UCC on October 7, 2021 in MUSICA News Articles, Press Release

The Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN) has been confirmed as the new coordinator of two leading European research projects.

MUSICA (Multiple-use-of Space for Island Clean Autonomy) and GRRIP (Grounding RRI Practices in Research Performing Organisations in Marine and Maritime) are both funded under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme.

In assuming the new coordinator role PLOCAN will be required to guide the projects through their respective periodic review processes to ensure they meet the requirements set out in the European Commission’s Grant Agreements. MUSICA has recently entered the second of its five phases, with GRRIP entering its third and final reporting period.

In addition to the new coordinator role at the MUSICA project, PLOCAN are leading the testing, monitoring, operation and maintenance of the multi-use platform on Oinnouses. PLOCAN will also contribute to the replicability plans and feasibility studies of the solution on Gran Canaria Island (Spain).

PLOCAN is also one of five Marine and Maritime (M&M) research performing organisations (RPO) in GRRIP. The aim of GRRIP is to embed Responsible Research & Innovation (RRI) in their governance frameworks, structures and cultures.

Dr Ayoze Castro, Head of the Innovation Unit at PLOCAN said, “We are immensely proud and excited to be taking on the role of coordinator for these two important and ambitious projects. MUSICA will represent one of the very first multipurpose offshore platforms in Europe. We fully believe that MUSICA is the logical follow-on from previous MUP projects and is the best route to commercialisation of the MUP/ MUS concept, balancing operator and investor risk, and acceleration of progress.

“With regards to GRRIP, we are of the opinion that this project represents a key milestone in the development of Responsible Research and Innovation in the fields of Marine Sciences. While there has been significant work done on the concept of RRI by EU projects over the past 20 years, many of the projects relating to institutional change for RPO&RFOs have typically focused on one of the five keys individually. GRRIP’s emphasis on the aim of grounding RRI practices in the RPO&RFOs themselves as part of an integrated approach makes it a unique and important project.”

Dr Gordon Dalton, from Ireland, has taken up the post of coordinator for the two projects. Dr Dalton brings with him the expertise of past coordination of two previous Horizon 2020 projects. Speaking on his new post, Dr Dalton, says, “I am very excited to take up the coordinator role for these two projects, and I’m keen to maximize the exploitation opportunities for PLOCAN and the Canary Island.

“I am determined to build and deploy multi-use platform technology in Gran Canaria, bringing construction and installation jobs for the region. Multiuse platforms will advance the Canary islands journey in sustainability, bringing green electricity and fresh water to the islands. The principles from the GRRIP project will ensure that exploitation of the MUSICA project will be both responsible and innovative for the Canary Islands.”

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About PLOCAN

The Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN) is a multipurpose service centre with land-based and novel sea-based infrastructures to support research, technology development and innovation in the marine and maritime sectors. Its mission is to promote long-term observation and sustainability of the ocean, providing a cost-effective combination of services, such as an ocean observatory, a marine test site, a base for underwater vehicles, training and an innovation hub.

PLOCAN is a joint initiative of the Spanish and the Canary Islands governments, with the contribution of the European Regional Development Fund, and is included in the Spanish Map of Unique Scientific and Technical Infrastructures (ICTS). PLOCAN is configured as a Test Site where projects focused on testing and demonstrating maritime technologies so contributing to increase their technology readiness level (TRL) and speeding up market uptake.

PLOCAN’s staff and management team have both an extensive experience in the preparation, implementation, and management of large projects in the marine and maritime sectors. Since 2009 they have participated in more than 90 national and EU funded projects both as coordinators and partners.

https://www.plocan.eu/en/

 

About GRRIP                                                                                                                     

The GRRIP Project (Grant Agreements 820283) is committed to creating a sustainable, growing and proactive marine and maritime RRI community. GRRIP will embed sustainable RRI practices in 4 research performing organisations (RPO) and 1 dual-function RPO and research funding organisation (RPO/RFO) (total 5 RPO & RFO) in the marine and maritime sectors to achieve institutional and cultural change.

The project has 5 case studies in five countries: PLOCAN (Las Palmas, Canary Islands), MaREI (Cork, Ireland), Swansea University (Swansea, Wales, UK), WavEC (Lisbon, Portugal) and Centrale Nantes (Nantes, France).

https://grrip.eu/

 

About MUSICA                                                                      

The MUSICA project (Grant Agreements 862252) aims to create a one-stop trial solution to address the energy problems faced by many islands and coastal regions. MUSICA’s Multi-Use Platform will reduce the need for importing expensive and harmful fossil fuels by harnessing the available renewable energy resources of the sun, wind and waves to produce an autonomous, readily available supply of electricity and fresh water.

MUSICA is a consortium comprised of 15 partner organisations; University College Cork (Coordinator), Heriot-Watt University, University of the Aegean, Municipality of Chios, University of Malta, Coral Ltd, International Consortium of Research Staff Associations, Network of Sustainable Greek Islands, Platforma Oceania de Canarias, Innosea, Aquabiotech Ltd, NeoDyne Ltd, SinnPower Gmbh, INSB Class International Classification Society, Forkys

https://musica-project.eu/

 

For more information:

Contact: Graham Lynch, GRRIP / MUSICA Dissemination & Communications Officer

Email: grahamlynch@ucc.ie