EMODnet marine data for the offshore renewable energy sector in the Northeast Atlantic, North Sea and Baltic Sea

In September and October 2022 the European Commission Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE) and the European Marine Observation and Data network (EMODnet) are co-organising two online workshops titled “Marine Data for the offshore renewable energy sector” focused on different regional sea-basins across European seas.

The first workshop will focus on offshore renewable energy activities and data requirements in the Northeast Atlantic, North Sea and Baltic Sea regions. The first workshop takes place on 20-21 September 2022 as a virtual (online) workshop, on the mornings of the 20th and 21st of September 2022 (9:30-13:00 CEST, both days). For information on the second workshop see here.

The main objective of both workshops is to facilitate cross-sectoral dialogue and share experiences from key offshore energy stakeholders regarding their in-situ data needs, the potential for developing targeted data products, tools and methodological approaches that can support the sector based on existing data and to deliberate on the appropriate workflow to ingest data from industry. The workshops will explore opportunities and applications for EMODnet’s diverse open source in-situ marine environmental data and human activities data and data products to support and innovate the offshore energy sector in Europe, taking into consideration the potential differences in the development of the sector in the geographical areas identified.

The workshop will investigate questions including (not exhaustive list):

What marine environmental and human activities data / data products are required by private sector operators, marine managers, etc to support the development of the offshore renewable energy sector and to underpin an ecosystem approach in the management of the sector and overall offshore areas?
How can the services provided by EMODnet support these needs to reduce uncertainty, save costs and drive innovation across the existing offshore renewable energy value chain including the planning, constructing, managing, monitoring and assessment of environmental impact?
What are the additional data/data product needs/gaps now and in emerging offshore renewable energy platforms? How do these needs differ across different regional sea-basins?
How can the offshore renewable energy sector contribute to EMODnet databases through data ingestion of its in situ marine environmental measurements?

Participants will include both private and public sector, including (but not limited to) offshore renewable energy operators, national authorities and wider policy makers at national, regional and EU levels, research & academia, marine consultancies and marine data services. Recommendations from the workshops will also be communicated to and taken up by EC in relation to a new EC Ocean Observation initiative.

The workshops are invitation only. To express interest to attend the first workshop, please contact secretariatemodnet [dot] eu (secretariat[at]emodnet[dot]eu) by 13 September 17:00 Central Europe Time.

The public report of the key outcomes of the workshop is available for download: EMODnet ORE#1 Report

The dialogue is in line with the policy objective of the current European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) for a greener, low-carbon, transitioning towards a net zero carbon, economy and resilient Europe by promoting clean and fair energy transition, green and blue investment, the circular economy, climate change mitigation and adaptation and risk prevention and management. In this context, the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) initiated the EMODnet for business framework, to underline the importance of open marine data and how it supports blue growth and industry.