BluERA (Blue Energy Resource Assessment)

Ocean energy (wave and tidal energy) is the largest known untapped renewable energy source in Europe and could meet 10% of the EU’s energy need by 2050, according to the Ocean Energy Forum (2016). The development of ocean energy, however, has been slower than expected. Despite significant achievements in recent years, there are still technological and non-technological barriers to overcome. In order to reduce the sector-specific risks and make responsible investment decisions, the technological challenges - which include technology convergence, reliability, maintenance costs, etc. - and the challenges due to exogeneous conditions (extreme environmental conditions) must be analysed together, as these critical factors influence each other. 

Applied research within the BluERA project will improve our understanding of the response of a number of different ocean energy technologies to energy source variability. Moreover, this will provide important data for risk assessments that will help promotors and investors select potential technologies. 

The end results of BluERA are two online digital products, a digital ocean energy atlas and an energy yield assessment tool.

The project will also provide a demonstration and verification of this atlas and tool.