July 1, 2024
BlueFloat Energy participated in yesterday’s Union for the Mediterranean webinar on ‘Fostering the Sustainable Development of Marine Renewable Energy through Effective Licensing and Maritime Spatial Planning.’ Our Stakeholder Engagement Manager, Christian Keller, shared insights on the crucial role our social license model plays in developing floating offshore wind projects in the Mediterranean.
Christian highlighted, “the vast majority of the Mediterranean’s wind resource is located in waters deeper than 60m. This is why floating offshore wind development is key to unlocking the region’s renewable energy capabilities and advancing its decarbonization efforts.” He further emphasized BlueFloat Energy’s commitment to social integration, transparency, and local presence—essential pillars for the success of floating offshore wind projects.
Key points from Christian’s presentation included:
- Mediterranean Potential: offshore wind could boost energy production up to 12 GW by 2030 and 40 GW by 2050 in EU Mediterranean countries.
- Regulatory Landscape: effective maritime spatial planning and overcoming regulatory challenges are paramount to unlock the floating offshore wind capacity in the Mediterranean.
- Social Integration: genuine stakeholder engagement is not only best practice but also the most efficient way of developing mutually beneficial projects.
The webinar, jointly organized by the Union for the Mediterranean and MedOCEaN, offered diverse perspectives into regulatory frameworks, challenges, and best practices for advancing marine renewable energy in the region. MedOCEaN is the Offshore Coalition for Energy and Nature in the Mediterranean Sea—a pioneering alliance between NGOs, transmission system operators (TSOs), and representatives of the wind industry across the Mediterranean basin and adjacent Atlantic waters to advance the responsible deployment of offshore wind energy while safeguarding the Mediterranean Sea’s precious natural resources. BlueFloat Energy is proud to have been the first offshore wind developer joining the MedOCEaN coalition.
