The roadmap outlines five main phases for success. These phases would be underpinned by a 250 million euro investment fund and a 70 million euro insurance fund. Research and Development, Prototype, Demonstration, Pre-Commercial and Industrial roll out could then be delivered along the envisioned timetable. Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella, who attended the Ocean Energy Conference in Brussels for the launch of the roadmap, said: “The roadmap estimates that ocean energy could meet up to 10% of the EU’s power demand by 2050, equivalent to cutting 276 million tonnes of CO2 every year”.

The event is part of the EU Ocean Week. Commissioner Vella announced a Joint Communication prepared with High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini on Ocean Governance. On Saturday (12 November) he spoke at the Oceans Action Day at COP22 in Marrakesh, Morocco and outline the role of the oceans as part of the European efforts to implement the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The roadmap is available here.