The Minister of Economy, Knowledge and Employment of the Government of the Canary Islands, Elena Máñez, and the Minister of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning of the Government of the Canary Islands, José Antonio Valbuena, visited the headquarters of the Oceanic Platform Consortium of the Canary Islands in Taliarte.
The director of Plocan, José Joaquín Hernández Brito, explained the activities and projects of the ICTS to the directors and managers of some departments of the Government of the Canary Islands that accompanied them; and guided them through the main facilities of the on-land headquarters.
Plocan is an essential initiative for the Canary Islands Government’s strategy in research, development and innovation (R&D); at the service of both the state and the international scientific and technological community. Plocan is included in the European coordination and collaboration actions in the Marine-maritime field and blue growth.
After meeting the Plocan team, Elena Mañez said: “We will lead all the processes related to the economic transformation of the blue sector from the Government of the Canary Islands; and we have a very powerful instrument: a platform that places the Canary Islands in the center of the world in innovative processes.” Plocan is a Consortium that ”allows to generate knowledge and employment economy linked to the new sectors, which are part of the priorities set in the agenda of the Government of the Canary Islands “.
The Minister pointed out that “we are facing an infrastructure where universities and companies can find the necessary support to progress in their projects.”, before mentioning that Plocan enables “a close and permanent collaboration with the research centers, and moreover, strengthening internal dialogue and establishing external alliances.”
Renewable energy
The Regional Minister of Ecological Transition, José Antonio Valbuena, commented that “the experimental projects developed at Plocan, for floating wind energy, position the Canary Islands as an ideal research spot in this field of work, which will advance in the coming years and it will represent an important niche of opportunities in the field of renewables.”
In his opinion, “the research projects contribute to generate blue economy in the Archipelago, to attract important European funds and to generate new economic opportunities for the local population.” Finally, the regional minister endorsed “the technological development that is promoted from the facilities at Telde, for ocean observation, CO2 capture in the sea, water desalination, and investigation of the ocean acidification and its effects on the marine biodiversity”.
Since 2009, the public consortium Plocan, created by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness and the Government of the Canary Islands, has captured more than 80 projects, which have involved almost a thousand partners from 49 countries and around 1,500 researchers.
