The importance of an increased exploitation of renewable energy sources is highlighted by the recent geo-political events with their impact on energy security and pricing, together with the global efforts to mitigate the anthropogenic climate change. Floating offshore wind, with its tremendous potential, will play an important role in the future to achieve the European Commission’s ambitious goals towards a climate-neutral energy transition. However, the required expansion of floating offshore wind capacity to achieve, e.g., the EU’s SET Plan targets, challenges the goal to protect and preserve bio-diversity (habitats and species) in the EU sea basins as set forth, e.g., by the Mission Healthy oceans. The INF4INiTY project (INtegrated designs for Future Floating oFFshore wINd farm TechnologY) aims to support the solution of this challenge. By developing critical technologies for the offshore wind farm of the future which enable balancing human needs (clean energy) with nature’s and society’s demands (decreased negative environmental and social impact). In particular, INF4INiTY provides two major technology innovations: an innovative nature inclusive design for gravity anchors and their associated scour protection system and (2) an innovative primary artificial reef structure combined with the floating structure of a floating offshore wind turbine. To that end, INF4INiTY combines world class numerical modelling and experimental analysis expertise with leading industrial technology development. Being immersed in a holistic techno-environomic, multi-level, multi-objective optimisation framework, INF4INiTY’s technology development results in truly innovative, economically viable, and sustainable solutions for the current techno-socio-enviro-economic challenges of the floating offshore wind industry.

HYDRALAB is an advanced network of environmental hydraulic institutes in Europe, which has been effective in providing access to a suite of major and unique environmental hydraulic facilities from across the whole European scientific community. A continuation project will prepare environmental hydraulic modelling for the upcoming urgent technical challenges associated with adaptations for climate change. A multi-disciplinary approach is essential to meet these challenges. We denote the project HYDRALAB+, in recognition of the added value that will follow from our network changing to enhance the collaboration between specialists and engaging with a new range of stakeholders. The issues associated with climate change impacts on rivers and coasts are significant enough to ask the scientific community to which we open up our facilities to focus their research efforts on adaptations for climate change. We plan to issue themed calls for proposals for access to the facilities, with scientific merit as the main selection criterion, but with preference to the proposals that also address issues of adaptation to climate change impact. In HYDRALAB+, with the prospect of climate change, we will build networking activities that will also involve the wider hydraulic community in the process of generating the deliverables of the project. The first Workshop in the project will be devoted to working together with the larger European hydraulics community not directly involved in HYDRALAB. Increased emphasis will be placed by HYDRALAB+ on engagement with industry – a theme that will be delivered initially through the vehicle of a focussed Workshop between HYDRALAB researchers and industry. We will work together with industry to have HYDRALAB+ become part of the innovation cycle by bringing development to market – this is particularly relevant for the instruments we develop - to involve industry in our range of project deliverables.