- It will be held between the 20 and 24 April during the Bilbao Marine Energy Week
- The sea offers new opportunities for generating renewable energy and additional lines of action for the Basque naval and technology industry
- More than 500 delegates, international experts and leading technology companies will be present at the BEC, where SINAVAL will also be held
Bilbao, 17th April 2015. Next week, Bilbao will host the Bilbao Marine Energy Week conference, the largest conference on marine energy in southern Europe. It is organised by the alliance formed by the Basque Energy Board (EVE), Corporación Tecnológica TECNALIA and Bilbao Exhibition Centre (BEC), who have sponsorship from IBERDROLA, one of the main Basque energy sector companies.
Bilbao Marine Renewable Energy Week begins on 20 April with the start of the Bilbao Marine Energy Week international conference and the SINAVAL energy, naval and fishing sectors fair.
The senior managers of the organising companies and the main sponsor will present the newest products of the sector in this, the second year, which will be attended by more than 40 expert speakers from the world's leading firms in marine projects. More than 500 delegates from companies within the sector have already confirmed their attendance.
The second year of the Bilbao Marine Energy Week includes three days of conferences, an exhibition within the international SINAVAL/Eurofishing fair of the maritime sector, business meetings with international guests and technical visits.
The week commences with sector meetings and meetings of European projects relating to marine energy through workshops, professional meetings and the General Meeting of the Association of Renewable Energy Companies.
Days 20, 21 and 22:
The first day will be devoted to International Sectorial Meetings:
- FP7 Suprapower project workshop and meeting.
- General meeting of the APPA Marina, Association of Renewable Energy Companies - Marine Section.
- Meeting of the RICORE project on assessment of the environmental impact of renewable marine energy.
The second day will be devoted to offshore wind power.
The latest advances in offshore turbines will be made known by the world's leading manufacturers. Then, the most relevant actors of the supply chain will present the main aspects which complement the offshore wind sector such as foundations, electrical equipment or means of installation. Following the subject matter surrounding the supply chain, several Basque companies will hold a debate on the business opportunities posed by offshore wind.
The third day, Bilbao Marine Energy Week presents the “bimepday”
A scientific conference which refers to the project being carried out by the EVE on the coast of Bizkaia, at Armintza. Bimep or Biscay Marine Energy Platform is an offshore facility located on the Basque coast for research and testing of tidal power converters and floating energy systems under real sea conditions. The bimep day will provide a complete scientific and industrial perspective of marine energy through the presentation of this research centre, scientific posters on the subject matter, the provision of other test centres and lectures on the industrial environment. The conference will focus on making known the main breakthroughs in the research and development projects surrounding marine renewable energy, with a special emphasis on floating devices. The day will end with a round table in which a debate will be held on the research needs and priorities in order to accelerate the development of marine renewable energy.
As we near the end of the week, on 23rd, the conference will focus on Ocean energies with a first session to make known the latest advances in marine current turbines and another focussed on tidal power harnessing devices. Following these two technical sessions, the debate will be focussed on providing technological aspects, cost reduction and licence processing.
Finally, the week ends on the 24th with a series of technical visits, highlighted among which are the Mutriku wave energy plant and bimep.
Mutriku tidal power plant
The technical visit to the electrical power plant using Mutriku tidal force will attempt to make this pioneering marine facility in Europe known. The Mutriku facility is a plant demonstrating the feasibility of this energy source for our supply. This is the first European commercial plant which uses tidal energy to generate power; hence it uses OWC technology (Oscillating Water Column). I has 16 chambers/turbines with an installed power of 296 kW.
Bimep
Visit to the bimep research centre located in Armintza which has all the items necessary for the technology developers to test their devices at sea and at all times know the responses of the latter and analyse their technical and economic viability.
There will also be combined visits to the facilities at Ormazabal, InGRID de TECNALIA and Bidelek Sareak.
The power of the sea
The sea offers greater potential for supplying power through offshore wind and also through wave conversion devices. This new generation of renewable electrical power brings advantages for energy and for the environment such as the reduction of emissions, but also important opportunities for Basque industry. Leading companies in technological development have new perspectives for opening additional work lines and, at the same time, generating synergies with another industry fully consolidated into the Basque Country as is the naval industry. These prospects of the international energy sector are already being taken advantage of by countries in northern Europe which are introducing offshore wind farms and creating a new industry linked to this sector. The Basque Country has the technological and naval infrastructure needed to lead the implementation of these offshore wind projects around the world, as well as the value chain, arising from the industrial and technological capability and manufacture of components.
Presentation of SINAVAL EUROFISHING
The Bilbao Marine Energy Week Conference is held in the context of the SINAVAL EUROFISHING Elite, Expo, Conferences&Networking fair, International Naval, Maritime and Port Industry Fair, held from the 21 to 23 April, at Bilbao Exhibition Centre. This event has become essential for professionals in the sector.
With more than 40 sectorial conferences and meetings, B2B meetings between international buyers, exhibitors of the naval and energy sectors, and partner agencies, two added-value social acts and a commercial exchange exhibition area. Sinaval/Eurofishing offers a dynamic quality forum capable of ensuring that the participation of professionals within the sector at this event becomes a high value-added task.
Likewise, it should be pointed out the announced presence at Sinaval-Eurofishing, Elite of the Minister of Natural Resources of the Seychelles, Peter Sinon, on the occasion of the fishing conferences devoted to "Agreements on tuna fishing. This participation, along with that of Steefan Depypere, International Director of Affairs and Markets DG-MARE and Chairman of ICCAT and the Parliamentary Institution of the European Union, Izaskun Bilbao, will turn SINAVAL-EUROFISHING into the main national fishing sector meeting of the year.
IBERDROLA on marine energy
Iberdrola is a pioneer in the development of different types of projects for harnessing marine energy. The foundation for its business in this sector is wind power (offshore), where it already has projects amounting to more than 8,000 megawatts of capacity.
The company is promoting these initiatives in northern Europe, particularly in the United Kingdom, Germany and France. Last year it commissioned its first offshore wind farm, named West of Duddon Sands of 389 MW.
It is also promoting the Wikinger 350 MW offshore wind farm in the waters of the Baltic Sea and has just awarded, through its subsidiary in the United Kingdom, Scottish Power Renewables, the construction of the offshore wind farm East Anglia One, which has 714 MW installed capacity.
About Corporación Tecnológica Tecnalia
TECNALIA Corporación Tecnológica was founded in 2001 in order to contribute towards development of the economic and social environment through the use and promotion of technological innovation, in a global context.
Nowadays, it consists of three partners: AZTI-Tecnalia, NEIKER-Tecnalia and TECNALIA Research & Innovation.
A Strategic Alliance arising from a commitment to join forces with a view to achieving a greater size, enabling higher levels of competitiveness in the market.
With more than 10 years of experience in the development of marine energy, its next commitment will be marine currents technology.
About EVE
In 1982, the Basque Government created the Basque Energy Board (EVE) and laid the foundations for an energy policy weighted differently during different periods: energy efficiency, energy source diversification and promotion of renewable energy.
Since its very beginnings, the EVE has developed projects to increase the harnessing of renewable energy in the Basque Country. An example of this is the renewal and commissioning of disused waterfalls, the implementation of wind farms and thermal and photovoltaic solar panels. Furthermore, biomass has played a fundamental role and is the form of renewable energy most used in the Basque Country. The commitment to the harnessing of energy such as, for example, marine energy, is a constant and forms part of the directives that will guide the Basque Energy Board during the coming years.