Abstract
Achieving Europe’s 2050 offshore renewable energy (ORE) targets requires immediate investment in world-class testing infrastructure. Yet today, major gaps remain – hindering innovation, slowing deployment, and risking Europe’s global competitiveness. The MARINERG-i Preparatory Phase (MARINERG-i_PP) project, funded by Horizon Europe, is finalising necessary steps to establish MARINERG-i as a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) – an integrated legal entity to advance the ORE innovation across Europe. MARINERG-i builds on the success of previous initiatives such as the MaRINET and the MaRINET2 projects – which delivered a high-impact, collaborative network of 45 testing infrastructures across 36 institutions, seeking to provide a permanent, fully integrated approach. Unlike these projects’ temporary nature limiting long-term impact, MARINERG-i aims to create a long lasting, integrated framework that will institutionalise collaboration, improve infrastructure access, and support standardisation efforts across Europe. As part of the preparatory work, the project has undertaken gap analysis and stakeholder engagement activities to meet industry needs. Drawing on the preliminary results, this briefing outlines three key policy recommendations to help advance ORE testing and test infrastructures in Europe:
- Launch a dedicated funding call under FP10 for ORE test-infrastructure access to address the lack of funding for prospective users
- Launch a dedicated funding call under FP10 for improving testing methodologies to establish best practices and implement standardisation across facilities
- Support the creation of additional large-scale test infrastructures to meet the evolving needs of the ORE sector
These actions are essential to unlock the full potential of ORE and achieve a sustainable energy future in Europe. This briefing is intended for EU and national policymakers involved in research, innovation, and industrial strategy for offshore renewable energy.