38 entities from the country, 11 of which from the Algarve, led by the Algarve company Necton, will create new sustainable products, processes and services from algae, within the scope of a consortium that will have its face-to-face kick-off meeting on the 27th of March, at 11:00 am, at the Penha Campus of the University of Algarve, in Faro.
As part of the Blue Bioeconomy Pact, Vertical Algas is a consortium with a total budget of 44 million euros, which «aims to provide the national algae sector with the necessary capacity and competitive advantages, based on new products, processes and sustainable services, to compete in global markets and raise the national brand in the European Blue Bioeconomy», according to GreenCoLab, one of the Algarve entities involved in the project.
At the meeting on the 27th, where around a hundred participants are expected, «the objectives, activities and progress of this consortium will be discussed», which includes «large business groups, SMEs, innovative and specialized startups, Universities, Collaborative Laboratories, R&D and Business Associations».
From the Algarve, there are 11 entities participating in this Vertical, from companies (Campina, Hubel Verde, Hubel Engenharia e Sustentabilidade, Necton, SeaCulture, Sea4Us and Sparos), to entities of the Scientific and Technological System (CCMar, GreenColab, IPMA and S2AQUAcoLAB) .
Vertical Algae proposes, from the outset, to «develop more sustainable and digitized production processes, which result in increased productivity and cost reduction», as well as «to develop more sustainable processes for harvesting, drying and transformation/biorefinery of biomass , who take advantage of blue biotechnology to obtain new ingredients with high added value».
The consortium also wants to develop «innovative seaweed-based applications for the nutraceutical and cosmeceutical markets, ready-to-eat meals and new foods for human consumption, new functional foods for aquaculture and new agricultural solutions (i.e. biofertilizers, biopesticides and water stimulants). microbiota)» and «evaluate the necessary legal requirements for the approval of new products and processes and their introduction on the market».
Vertical Algas is co-financed by the PRR – Recovery and Resilience Plan and by the Next Generation EU Funds, being the biggest initiative of the Blue Bioeconomy Pact agenda. This pact aims to re-industrialize the blue bioeconomy through the creation of new economic models based on the use of marine bioresources, also creating the first European hub of blue bioeconomy.
Led by Inovamar (which includes Sociedade Francisco Manuel dos Santos, Grupo Amorim, Oceano Fresco, TMG, Canreal, Necton, ETSA and Sonae in its share capital), it represents an investment of 133 million euros and involves a total of 83 partners.
Photos: Necton, by Benjamin Schmid
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