The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) has launched the FOREST (Future Ocean Renewable Energy System Technologies) project with support from the European Commission under the Horizon Europe program.
According to EMEC, the €4 million project brings together eight partners from the UK, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden to develop subsea components and digital technologies aimed at improving durability, reliability, and efficiency in ocean energy systems.
Coordinated by EMEC in Orkney, Scotland, the three-year project seeks to enhance the performance of ocean energy arrays, reduce the levelized cost of energy (LCOE), support sustainability across the sector, and speed up market deployment. The project will also produce data and insights on ocean energy farm operations, focusing on availability, maintainability, reliability, survivability, and sustainability.
“The FOREST project marks a major step forward for ocean energy, bringing together leading expertise from across Europe to tackle some of the sector’s most persistent challenges,” said Matthew Finn , Managing Director at EMEC.
“By developing and testing next-generation subsea technologies here in Orkney, we’re advancing the reliability and efficiency of the ancillary systems crucial for ocean energy array deployments and helping to drive down costs. This collaboration demonstrates the power of innovation and partnership in accelerating the transition to clean, sustainable energy.”
According to EMEC, the project will deliver three core innovations, including 33 kV super dynamic cables and a connection hub for ocean energy arrays designed by SubConnected, a subsea cable quick connector system developed by Apollo, and an optical measurement platform by Indeximate that integrates artificial intelligence and machine learning from CENER and Intelligent Plant to monitor cable and device health and optimise array performance.
These systems will undergo testing at EMEC’s wave and tidal test sites in Orkney, in collaboration with wave and tidal energy developers. Bureau Veritas will oversee compliance with international certification standards.
“This project and its investment in advancing cutting-edge subsea technologies will help to catalyse the advancement of the renewable marine energy sector. A sector where Scotland has led the way through the development and deployment of a number of groundbreaking marine energy devices,” said Scotland’s Energy Secretary, Gillian Martin .
“It is particularly heartening to see that this project is coordinated by Scotland’s European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, supported by Horizon Europe. This international collaboration highlights the importance of sharing expertise and innovation to accelerate market readiness in order to realise the potential of marine energy in supporting our transition to net zero.”
According to EMEC , FOREST supports the EU Strategy on Offshore Renewable Energy and the Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan, aligning with the EU’s 1 GW ocean energy target. By improving reliability and reducing costs, the project is expected to strengthen investor confidence and accelerate the global deployment of ocean energy farms.
The FOREST consortium includes EMEC (Coordinator), Indeximate, Intelligent Plant, Bureau Veritas and Apollo (UK), WavEC Offshore Renewables (Portugal), CENER – National Renewable Energy Centre (Spain), and SubConnected (Sweden).