Further expansion of the aquaculture industry, both land-based and nearshore, is limited by factors such as economic, socio-political, environmental, technical and resource constraints. Moving aquaculture offshore creates new opportunities for the industry to meet in the global demand for food especially when these advantages being enhanced by combining with other activities such as renewable energy.

The Blue Growth Farm (BGF) project received funding from the EU’s HRZ 2020 program (GA774426) to design an automated, modular and environmentally friendly multi-functional platform (MUP) with remote control capability for offshore installations. It is based on pre-fabricated, low-cost low-corrosion floating concrete caissons to create a protected pool housing an automated aquaculture system within, external wave energy converters, and a commercial 10 MW wind turbine, as well as large working and storage areas. Design benefits from results of experimental investigation on two scaled prototypes.

Combining different economic activities to sustain offshore aquaculture, together with technical upgrade, provides a sustainable means of exploiting marine resources, meeting the growing global demand for both seafood and energy from renewable sources. In the same context, BGF project also aims to a) increase the economic viability of MUPs; b) secure acceptance of these new developments by local communities, regulators, NGOs and society-at-large.