MaREI, the SFI Research Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine hosted by University College Cork has been awarded € 9 million for the H2020 project MUSICA to build a pilot multi-use platform which will be a decarbonising one-stop-shop for small islands, including their marine initiatives (Blue Growth) and ecosystems.MUSICA which stands for Multiple Use of Space for Island Clean Autonomy will pilot a floating offshore platform which will provide 70% of the electricity and 100% of freshwater for a small island with up to 2000 inhabitants. The energy will be supplied via renewable energy and will be a combination of wind, PV and wave energy and the desalinated water will be powered by green renewable electricity. The platform will also provide a support infrastructure for local aquaculture, trialling an offshore aquaculture cage beside the platform, providing all the energy and feed for the cage to provide higher fish yields, and an environmentally green product. The provision of a floating refuelling station for yachts and boats means that they can recharge their batteries and stock up with fresh water.
The 5-year project which has 15 partners from 7 EU Member States will develop complete business plans to move to MUSICA to mass-market commercialisation and will start by developing roadmaps for 3 trail case study islands: Malta, Canaries, and Chios in the Aegean.