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European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency
News article9 September 2021

New EMFF BlueInvest grants are ready to take off

The projects will support SMEs and early-stage businesses in blue economy

EMFF BlueInvest grant agreements signature (September 2021).2

The first ten projects funded under the EMFF 2020 Blue Economy Window call for proposals are ready to start. Their purpose? Boosting innovation and investment in sustainable technologies to support the EU Green Deal's objectives.

The Blue economy and especially SMEs play a crucial role in supporting coastal communities and decarbonisation in Europe. In that context, a second edition of the Blue Economy Window call was launched in 2020 with the aim of contributing to innovation and sustainability for blue economy's value chains as well as to the goals of the European Green Deal, including digital earth and farm to fork strategies, circularity and the transition to a climate-neutral economy. 

The total budget allocated to projects by this call was €20 million, provided under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). The selection process resulted in the invitation of 11 project owners to sign a grant agreement.

Also branded as "BlueInvest Grants", these projects  belong to a package of measures set up under the BlueInvest platform launched by the European Commission (Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries and CINEA), encompassing assistance services for investment readiness and €75 million worth of liquidity made available in 2020 for investing equity in funds specialising entirely or mostly in the blue economy or for co-investing in particular companies.

Selected projects cover a wide array of sectors, with a good representation - this year - of the blue bioeconomy and in particular algae, but also aquaculture, green transport and offshore renewable energy, digital ocean covering data and underwater technology.

Grants that have been signed can be found via the links provided below.

More projects will be added once the new grant agreements are signed and ready to kick-off.

For further information click here.

Details:

ALGAENAUTS: eco-friendly and sustainable new family of biopesticides based on microalgae via circular economy approach

CO2CONTROL: collaborative platform for shipping container operations to take control of CO2 emissions by route optimisation

ESENSE: breakthrough electromagnetics detection, navigation and characterization

KELP EU: an innovative, sector-leading seaweed biorefinery - enabling the European blue circular economy

SEAFOOD ALGTERNATIVE: fish substitute from algae to preserve marine wildlife and develop algaculture

SEAWING4BLUE: the automated wing to power ships, providing 20% of fuel savings and emissions reduction

ULVA FARM: large scale sea cultivation of green seaweed

WINNEW OceanWINgs: the new wind propulsion technology to lead the shipping industry’s shift towards a blue economy

AQUAPEKILO: Replacing soy with Pekilo protein in aquafeed

TECOW: Transition to Emission-free Commuting on Waterways

Details

Publication date
9 September 2021