UNITED

UNITED stands for "Multi-Use Platforms and Co-location Pilots Boosting Cost effective, and Eco-friendly and Sustainable Production in Marine Environments. The project is implementing the multi-use concept in 5 pilots across the 3 EU Sea Basins to test the viability of the multi-use concept (Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and Greece). The project has already provided diverse solution on how the development of co-location of different activities in the same marine space could be a viable approach (economically, socially, and environmentally). Namely, the 5 UNITED pilots have reached the operational stage and three of them are located in challenging offshore environments (Netherlands, Belgium, Germany). The review of the pilots’ TRL, legal aspects, technical solutions and risks was completed in August 2020, and the pilots are now working on the synchronization of multiple operation and maintenance systems, as well as improvements in current design, safety and infrastructure set-ups for multi-use extensions. For each of the pilots, the economic assessment is compiled as well as the business analysis. The pilots are further investigating profitability, risk and economic sustainability of multi-use developments. This work will feed into the Ocean Multi-Use Commercialisation Roadmap due by June 2023. For each of the pilots, the inventory of legal and insurance aspects, risks and risk management options has been produced and the work is now ongoing to validate these with a wider set of stakeholders in each of the localities. Efforts are also ongoing in each of the pilot locations to raise awareness about ocean multi-use, to inform the public about the current state of the project and create a platform where information is exchanged to take into account the public concerns and considerations, monitor the societal perception, and create ownership. The project has had several events which include open access training workshops to improve professional skills and competencies for everybody who is interested. While initial environmental scoping has already been completed, the UNITED pilots are now implementing the environmental assessment framework to assess the impacts of future similar up-scaled commercially viable pilots in each of the localities.