MERMAID Project Developing Multi-Use Offshore Platform (VIDEO)

MERMAID project, running under the European Union’s Ocean of Tomorrow program, aims to develop concepts for the next generation of offshore platforms which can be used for multiple purposes, including energy extraction, aquaculture and platform related transport.

Researchers who are developing the project are studying various combinations of offshore energy and aquaculture systems comprised on the same platform.

They are testing possibilities of a platform housing floating offshore wind turbines, wave energy systems and fish farming. Also, one of their platforms is being tested for combining wind turbines, wave energy systems, along with seaweed and shellfish farms.

MERMAID has four different infrastructures on sites, which are being studied to develop innovative plans and designs for harvesting ocean energy, aquaculture and logistic support.The sites, which represent different environmental, social and economic conditions, are located at four different seas:

1. The Baltic Sea – a typical estuarine area with fresh water from rivers and saltwater.
2. The transboundary area of the North Sea-Wadden Sea – a typical active morphology site
3. The Atlantic Ocean – a typical deep water site
4. The Mediterranean Sea – a typical sheltered deep water site.

The project does not envisage building new platforms, but will theoretically examine new concepts, such as combining structures and building new structures on representative sites under different conditions.

The 28 partner institutes forming MERMAID are Universities (11), Research institutes (8), Industries (5) and Small and Medium Enterprises (4 SME’s), from many regions in EU. The group represents a broad range of expertise in hydraulics, wind engineering, aquaculture, renewable energy, marine environment, project management as well as socio-economics.