SPACE@SEA

The Space@Sea project aims to develop multi-use platforms with the objective to develop safe and cost efficient deck space at sea. Due to the increasing population and scarce usable space on land, there is an increasing need for sustainable food and renewable energy from the ocean. In the future these will be supplied more and more by fish- and seaweed farms and ocean energy such as (floating) wind turbines. There are also geographical locations where additional housing or logistic hubs are needed.

All these developments need a flexible and scalable concept that can support a multitude of activities at sea. Space@Sea consists of a group of companies, research institutes and universities that will develop a modular concept for multi-use platforms. Standardised floaters that can be produced at low cost will form the basis. The approach will reduce the cost through standardisation in a similar way that containers reduced the cost of transport in the past. Each floater can support a different function, such as: housing, renewable energy hub, aquafarming (seaweed, algae and fish farms) and logistics equipment. By combining the applications in different ways, Space@Sea will form islands according to the specifications for the location and function at hand. Three specific islands will be validated and demonstrated as part of Space@Sea: An energy hub in the North Sea, aquaculture in the Mediterranean and a floating logistics hub in the Black Sea. To develop a safe and economically viable floating island, a floater needs to be developed that can meet the requirements of the various applications and environmental conditions. At the same time these requirements will be brought together into a standardized design. Technology developments are required for the floater, the shared mooring system, coupling between the floaters and application specific developments. The Space@Sea consortium aims to overcome these challenges for a sustainable and cost efficient development of our oceans.