EU project MUSICA aims to provide a full suite of Blue Growth (BG) solutions including a renewable energy system (RES), desalination and BG aquaculture service offshore for small islands.

Between the 22-25th January 2020, in Chios, Greece, the EU funded project "Multiple Use of Space for Island Clean Autonomy" (MUSICA) held its kick-off meeting.

The Valetta Declaration launched the Clean Energy for EU islands initiative aimed at accelerating the clean energy transition for small islands. It calls for action to help islands reduce their dependency on energy imports by making better use of their own renewable energy sources.

Led by Dr Gordon Dalton from MaREI ERI, University College Cork, an international multidisciplinary team have joined forces with the aim of developing a replicable smart Multi-Use Platform (MUP) and Multi-use of Space (MUS) combination as a decarbonising one-stop shop and a viable enabling infrastructure for the small island market.

"We believe that the MUSICA MUP will bring a replicable energy solution that can be configured to the island requirements. The project will provide real plans to move to mass market commercialisation de-risking replication for future operators and increasing attractiveness to potential investors," says Dr Gordon Dalton, MUSICA project coordinator.

To achieve this, MUSICA will design, develop, deploy and evaluate a MUP that will deliver three forms of renewable energy (RE) (wind, PV and wave) and will employ advanced ICT including an Energy Management System (EMS) as well as innovative energy storage and desalination equipment. Two multiple-use of space (MUS) customers, aquaculture and electricity and water recharging station services, will use the services of the modular MUP.

Since, MUSICA plans to follow the principles of responsible research and innovation and align its impacts with Sustainable Development Goals, to maximise societal acceptance and use of the MUSICA MUP based RES, water supply and aquaculture support service, the kick-off meeting included a number of interactions with local authorities and island energy communities. Thus, the project team, had the opportunity to visit the Island of Innousses where the MUP will be deployed and a civic reception was held where all the relevant stakeholders could gain a better understanding about the planned project activities and the way they can participate in the MUP development. In this way, the project has the potential to drive energy system decentralisation and foster community based, citizen driven, bottom up initiatives.

MUSICA is a multi-disciplinary consortium made up of 15 recognised and experienced key players from 7 different EU Member States - University College Cork, University College Cork, Heriot-Watt University, University of the Aegean, Municipality of Chios, Universita da Malta, Coral Ltd, International Consortium of Research Staff Associations, Network of Sustainable Greek Islands, Platforma Oceania de Canarias, Innosea, Aquabiotech Ltd, NeoDyne Ltd, Sinn Power Gmbh, INSB Hellas Classification Society, Forkys.

The EU contribution award is €9 million. The project has a 5-year duration, starting January 2020.