In the beginning of October, the 6th and 7th, ELBE Alliance organised a networking event in the framework of the Ocean Energy Conference, organised in collaboration by the Basque Energy Cluster, the Basque Energy Agency, Tecnalia and Bilbao Exhibition Center (BEC). The event attracted 40 companies from all over Europe interested in collaboration and internationalisation opportunities in ocean energies, mostly focusing on the wave energy sector.

Ocean energy once again took centre stage at the World Maritime Week, which is held every year at BEC. After two years of absence due to the pandemic, this conference, which deals with current affairs in the sector and brings together representative entities from Spain and abroad, is back and greater than ever. Thanks to the ELBE Alliance, the conference was attended by companies from Sweden and Scotland, in addition to the attraction of national and international companies and entities from the wave energy sector.

The conference focused on three aspects. The first session presented the different strategies for the development of ocean energy in Europe, Spain and the Basque Country. The second session tackled the funding opportunities for an emerging sector, including the Horizon Europe programme, the EU Innovation Fund, the Recovery and Resilience Plans and a specific mechanism to reduce risks in ocean energy projects. The conference ended with a round of presentations from leading companies that are developing technology for efficient harnessing of wave energy. This session included presentations from the following developers of wave energy converters: IDOM, WELLO, MOCEAN ENERGY, CORPOWER y NOVIOCEAN.

In addition, the event included a space for B2B meetings organised in collaboration with the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN). Here, companies attending the conference in-person and those connecting to the B2B online had the opportunity to exchange their impressions and start collaborating within the framework of this conference. In total, 16 companies participated in the B2B and 19 meetings took place.

The event closed with a visit the next day to the BiMEP facilities where people had the chance to see the WELLO device that is being tested in the area.