The Algarve, along with Lisbon, Oeiras, Peniche, Aveiro and Porto-Matosinhos (I and II), is one of the regions of the country that will receive an innovation and industrialization hub, in port areas, financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan. (PRR).
The eight Blue Fund Invitation Notices for the poles to be financed by the PRR, with a view to creating the Blue Hub of networked infrastructures to boost the Blue Economy in Portugal, have already been published, the Ministry of the Sea reported.
The allocation is €84 million and must be completed by the end of 2025.
The consortia that will receive the PRR funds, through the Fundo Azul/DGPM as an Intermediary Beneficiary, will carry out the promotion of innovation and industrialization poles, in port areas, in Lisbon, Oeiras, Peniche, Aveiro, Porto-Matosinhos (I and II) and Algarve.
Another pole concerns the new concept of Hub Blue School, which brings together education/training institutions in various locations in mainland Portugal and islands.
“The objective is to create a physical and digital network platform to boost the blue bioeconomy and other emerging areas of the decarbonizing sea economy, in Portugal and Europe. In addition to new SMEs and start-ups, in partnership with cities, universities and regional R&D centers, this Blue Hub should integrate large companies as beacons of development, acting as customers and stimulating new value chains”, emphasizes the Minister of the Sea Ricardo Serrão Santos.
The Government intends to “foster a business model for the economy of the Sea that stimulates the transfer of knowledge and technology between companies, academies, municipalities and other agents”, stresses the note from the Ministry of the Sea.
Some of the activities considered as “most promising” are renewable energy from an ocean source or location, open sea aquaculture (offshore), robotics, submarine cables and the blue bioeconomy, namely products for the textile, food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries.
The Blue Hub will include infrastructure on land and at sea, with access to new marine monitoring equipment and its data, and will provide access to oceanographic research vessel hours for bioprospecting, mapping and scientific knowledge, as well as to leverage the experimentation of solutions. innovative solutions in a real context, at sea.
To give legislative support to this strategy, Decree Law nº 123/2021, of December 30, was recently published in the Diário da República, with the Revision of FundoAzul, which became an intermediary beneficiary of European PRR funds.
Another step in the reform involved the publication of Resolution of the Council of Ministers (RCM) no. the scope of the Port Tech Clusters Network to the blue bioeconomy.
For more information about Invitation Notices, consult www.dgpm.mm.gov.pt/fundo-azulanuncios
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