Award ceremony for the WEAMEC 2025 call for projects during the Regional Sea and Coastline Assembly

On Tuesday, June 24, 2025, WEAMEC participated in the Regional Sea and Coastline Assembly, organized by the Pays de la Loire Region. This was an opportunity to present its awards to the winners of the 2025 call for projects.

A rich morning

Progress on the maritime strategy for the NAMO (North Atlantic Channel West) coastline

• A public consultation has been underway since May 5 and will continue until October 2025 for the NAMO Strategic Coastline Document project. This document sets out a vision for 2050 (compared to 2030 previously).
• Following UNOC3, refined maps of high-protection areas have been incorporated into their work.
• Twenty-one recommendations have been consulted and validated by the State. It now remains to be seen how to respond to them and how to integrate them.

Innovative research projects in the Loire region to anticipate major transitions

• The OMISSY project, led by Agnès Baltzer (Nantes University – LETG), aims to work with the inhabitants of the Île d’Yeu to develop adaptation strategies to address coastal risks (erosion, flooding, sea level rise). The aim is to collectively devise realistic and acceptable solutions to anticipate the impacts of climate change. Participatory workshops, serious games, and awareness-raising activities are already underway, and social psychology skills will be mobilized.
• The Maritime Chair – phase 2 (2024–2028), led by Alexia Pigeault, Laurent Baranger, and Olivier Le Reste, aims to support the development of human activities at sea, particularly marine renewable energy (MRE), by producing knowledge on their interaction with other uses and the protection of biodiversity. It develops accessible tools (maps, games, workshops) to help coastal stakeholders communicate, understand each other, and make decisions together. The goal is to facilitate sustainable and peaceful coexistence around offshore projects.
• The Carbone Bleu des Marais association protects coastal wetlands, which are vital for natural carbon storage and combating climate change. It mobilizes public and private stakeholders to raise awareness and take action. Its first conference was held on October 10, 2025, in Talmont-Saint-Hilaire.

As part of this approach to anticipating major future transitions, three testing facilities were presented: the THEOREM infrastructure in the Pays de la Loire region (École Centrale, Université G. Eiffel), the Jules Verne CSTB wind tunnel, and the SEA’NERGY platform (CEA).

Time dedicated to the WEAMEC 2025 call for projects awards ceremony

Every year, WEAMEC selects research projects focused on marine renewable energy. The aim of this call for projects is to develop the region’s skills so that they remain relevant to the challenges faced by the sector and the national and international energy context.

At the awards ceremony, five projects were selected:

• [International] The BLACKPEARL project by Antoine Dubois – ISOMer (Institute for Marine Substances and Organisms). It aims to characterize marine biocolonization of offshore structures, in particular the combined effects of algae and marine organisms on the performance of MRE devices, in order to improve hydrodynamic models and optimize their design.
• [Research] The ACE project by Benoit Hilloulin – GeM (Institute for Research in Civil and Mechanical Engineering). It seeks to demonstrate the effectiveness and industrial feasibility of using calcifying microalgae to form a protective coating on marine concrete, in order to improve its durability against environmental aggressions.
• [Research] The POLYENERGIES project by Ugo Pelay – LHEEA (Laboratory for Research in Hydrodynamics, Energy, and Atmospheric Environment). The goal is to design a multi-energy ocean thermal power plant in Bora Bora capable of producing electricity, cooling, fresh water, and hydrogen, while assessing its economic and environmental viability to meet the specific challenges of tropical islands.
• [International] Matthieu Blanc’s C-PIGS project – GERS (Geotechnical, Environment, Natural Risks and Earth Sciences). He seeks to understand how glauconite, a mineral found in marine soils, affects the installation of piles for offshore wind turbines and aims to improve installation techniques.
• [Research] Stéphanie Bonnet’s HOMER project – GeM (Civil and Mechanical Engineering Research Institute). It seeks to better monitor the condition of concrete in offshore wind turbine floats, using an innovative electrical method to detect the presence of salt (chlorides), a sign of degradation. The goal is to make this method faster and simpler, without the need for lengthy laboratory tests, particularly for more environmentally friendly (low-carbon) concrete.

Congratulations to the 2025 winners and thank you to the jury (Centrale Nantes, Nantes University, Pôle Mer Bretagne Atlantique, Smart Power (formerly S2E2), Pôle EMC2) and our other partners (IRT Jules Verne, Pays de la Loire Region, Nantes Métropole, and Saint-Nazaire Ville & Agglo) for their time and commitment.