Fri, 05 February, 2021
A team of business, technological and scientific experts from seven EU countries joined forces to contribute to the European Union’s climate targets by improving the wind energy sector. The MAREWIND project will develop durable materials and recyclable solutions for the offshore wind industry, while extending the service life of the wind facilities and creating new job opportunities.
On 13-14 January 2021, with a 2-day online kick-off meeting, the MAREWIND project was officially launched and the implementation work has begun. The project has been granted €6,706,969 from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme to enhance materials durability, recyclability, and reduce maintenance in offshore structures. During the next four years, the project will work towards achieving five ambitious targets focused on:
- Enhancing corrosion protection systems and durability
- Effective and durable antifouling solutions without using biocides
- Erosion protection and mechanical reinforcement of wind blades
- Predictive modelling and monitoring
- Increased recyclability
Wind turbine blade leading-edge erosion affects the annual energy production by 4-20 %, which equates to a loss between €152-760 million a year across the overall European offshore wind sector. Moreover, the maintenance of the materials is very expensive and accounts for around 25% of an offshore wind farms’ cost. In addition to that, at the end of the wind turbines’ service life, the generated waste in need of recycling could see an increase of up to 800,000 tonnes per year in Europe by 2050.
MAREWIND solutions will pave the way for the next generation of offshore wind generators and facilities that aim to solve the technological, economical, business, and societal challenges we are now facing. In addition, it will strengthen the leading role of Europe in the global offshore wind market with current 22,072 MW of installed cumulative capacity, followed by the Asian and North America markets.
The project is expected to highly impact the EU offshore wind industry, which is projected to have the largest contribution to the renewable energy targets for 2030. The MAREWIND outcomes will have the following impact:
- Maintaining/improving performance
- Optimised material costs and improved durability
- Boost standardisation of wind offshore energy technologies
- Significant reduction of life cycle costs
- Cost reduction for offshore energy production of about 40% levelized cost of energy
- Reduction on environmental impact by 35%
- Reducing CO2 emission and fuel dependency; 3,5 ktoe in short term and 13,6 at mid-long term
- Creating economic growth and new jobs in Europe by strengthening the European industrial technology base
The project is run by a consortium of 16 partners from seven European countries, representing leading business, technological and research organisations, and institutions across Europe. The project coordinator, Lurederra Technology Centre (Spain), will oversee the project’s implementation plan of nine work packages. The partners cover the whole value chain of the offshore wind sector and therefore will validate prototypes, results and costs during the project under accelerated testing and in the real environment.
The MAREWIND project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 952960