Five of France’s coastal regions, including the Pays de la Loire, have agreed a common agenda for the marine renewable energies: co-operation which aims to accelerate the development of this industrial sector in the west of France.
Let’s just call it being a good team player. At the 3rd edition of the Thétis MRE Business Fair, the Pays de la Loire, Aquitaine, Brittany, and both Normandy regions announced their agreement on a set of common propositions, evidence of their mutual desire to share knowledge, skills and experience in the development of industry and employment in the marine renewable energies.
Starting this year, the various research centres of each region will begin to develop relationships with the aim of fostering collaborative projects that directly address the needs of industry. Such projects may attract funding by the regional authorities. The partners also declared their desire to develop a range of training programmes tailored to business need. Building bridges between large corporate customers and local sub-contracting businesses so that the SMEs can benefit from France’s strong position in this international market is another priority.
The five regions also aim to simplify finance and planning procedures for the necessary grid connections for the marine production sites, and to lobby the EU for industrial and research policy in strong support of the marine renewables. The inter-regional lobby is open to any other region that wishes to join.
