Brief Description of Organisation:

The Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN) is a multipurpose service centre with landbased and sea-based novel infrastructures to support research, technology development and innovation in the marine and maritime sectors. Its mission is to promote long-term observation and sustainability of the ocean, providing a cost-effective combination of services, such as an observatory, a test site, a base for underwater vehicles, training and an innovation hub. PLOCAN is a joint initiative of the Spanish and the Canary Islands governments, with the help of the European Regional Development Fund, whose main objective is to build and operate a fixed offshore platform that will be located both close to the coast and near the edge of the continental shelf, in shallow waters. It will have a net surface of around 2,500 m2 of research capacity, space for laboratories, instrumented containers and capacity to permanently accommodate researchers distributed in a multistore building with a main dock of 1,000 m2.

The PLOCAN managing team and technical staff have a broad experience in the preparation, management and development of large national and international projects in the marine and maritime sectors and are currently coordinating European projects in the fields of offshore platforms and marine observation. In addition PLOCAN is configured as a Marine Test Site where projects focused on testing and demonstrating of all kinds of marine devices are performed. These include mainly marine renewable energy converters but also submarine and surface autonomous vehicles, fixed buoys and marine observatories, profilers, sensors, etc.

JERICO-S3: Main tasks attributed under Work Packages:

Leader of WP7 - Technological Innovation - (Tasks 7.1, 7.2, 7.3) WP8: PLOCAN coastal facilities and test site offered for access, WP1/Task 1.1: Link to WP7 and participation in joint meetings/workshops

Relevant Projects- previous and existing:

The PLOCAN managing team and staff have extensive experience in the development and management of large national and international projects in the marine and maritime sector such as CANIGO (4th FP), ANIMATE (5th FP), MERSEA (6th FP), EuroSITES (7th FP), TROPOS (7th FP), NeXOS (7th FP), FIX03 (7th FP), AtlantOS (H2020), EMSO-Link (H2020).