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The organizers of the International Conference on Ocean Energy (ICOE) have launched a website full of details about the programming for the conference.
A quick review of the website shows:
- More than 80 speakers representing 14 countries from around the world
- 22 sessions, organized into three tracks: General (Plenary); Industry/Markets; and, Technical/Research
- A robust Poster Gallery, featuring more than 100 posters showcasing the work of more than 360 global marine energy experts
The ICOE event is being hosted by the United States for the first time. This will also be the first time that ICOE will be held virtually. The National Hydropower Association (NHA)’s Marine Energy Council, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy and Ocean Energy Systems (OES), is organizing the three-day virtual event. OES is an intergovernmental technology collaboration program involving the 29 member countries of the International Energy Agency.
“This upcoming international gathering of the global marine energy community is vital to the work of the OES toward advancing industrial development of the sector,” said Yann-Herve De Roeck, IEA-OES chair. “The goal of the conference is to share recent experiences from research and demonstration efforts. We are aiming to accelerate development by stimulating collaborative networks between companies and research and development centers.”
Conference Sessions Offer Two Focuses: Markets/Business and Technical/Research
A deep dive into the details of the conference shows there will be plenty of opportunity for this collaboration.
The 84 speakers already committed to present at the conference bring expertise and lessons learned from all over the world. They represent the following countries: Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, India, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
“You’ll see from a review of these speakers, we are bringing global leaders together to share their experiences and knowhow, with the collective goal of advancing the industry,” says Tim Ramsey, program manager for marine and hydrokinetics at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office and U.S. delegate to the OES.
“We are anticipating high-quality presentations and great exchange among academia and industry,” Ramsey said. All sessions will be recorded, and available to attendees “on demand” for one year after the event.
Presentations are divided into two tracks – Industry/Markets and Technical/Research. Speakers will be available to answer questions on their sessions live.
For the Technical/Research track, full research presentations will be pre-recorded and made available to all registered attendees, beginning April 12. Registrants will access these pre-recorded presentations through the ICOE website.
During the actual event, in live sessions, presenters will give a shorter summary presentation and discuss their research/answer audience questions.
The day-by-day presentation schedule helps prospective attendees know what’s planned for all three days.
Poster Gallery: A Showcase of Marine Energy Efforts around the World
In addition to the sessions, ICOE features a Poster Gallery of more than 100 visual displays. More than 360 professionals are affiliated with the work featured in these displays.
Beginning April 12, all registered attendees will be able to view the more than 100 e-posters. Some poster authors will provide an audio component, in addition to the visual display. Attendees can submit their questions via chat to interact with the authors.
Tool for Finding Specifics, Starting Collaborations
The ICOE website features useful search functionality, so that prospective attendees can search the full schedule, by presentation title and speaker name.
“I find the search tool to be very useful,” says Paul Gay, co-chair of the NHA Marine Energy Council. “You can utilize the search tool to find – with just a few clicks – topics being covered, colleagues who are speaking, organizations that are represented. After just a few minutes of searching, I am very excited about all that’s being offered and the great connections that will be made before and during the event.”
Beginning April 12, ICOE registrants will be invited to log into the ICOE conference platform and create a profile. “This is a great opportunity to get your profile set up and ready to go prior to the live event dates. You can also see who else will be in attendance,” said Francesca Blanco, Director of Meetings and Events for NHA, the organizer of ICOE. “Registered attendees will also have ample opportunities during the actual event to network live with other attendees as well as leading industry vendors.”
Continuing the Exchange in the Virtual Exhibit Hall
In addition to the conference sessions and the poster gallery, the ICOE event also features a Virtual Exhibit Hall and sponsored sessions. The Virtual Exhibit Hall can be accessed at any time through the left navigation listing or the yellow tile on the ICOE 2021 virtual event website. Sponsored Sessions can be found in the Knowledge Center yellow tile on the home page or through the full schedule. Please see the image below for details.
Several companies and organizations have already committed to having a presence in the Virtual Exhibit Hall.
For example, Marine Renewables Canada will have a large presence, hosting 12-16 participating companies/organizations in the Canada Pavilion. “ICOE is a significant event for the emerging global marine renewable energy industry as it is aimed at stimulating collaboration, building partnerships, and sharing recent experiences from development, demonstration, and technology transfer efforts to advance growth of the industry,” says Amanda White, Operations Director for Marine Renewables Canada. “Canadian companies who are involved in renewable energy projects will be building experience and expertise that can be applied to the world market, making ICOE 2021 a prime opportunity to showcase the Canadian supply chain.”
Another exhibiting company, Orbital Marine Power, headquartered in Scotland, is excited to be a part of ICOE. “At Orbital, we see great potential in the opportunity to share news of our future-looking commercial activities and ongoing optimization of our innovative technology with the global audience at ICOE,” says Sarah Watt, Marketing and Media Manager at Orbital.
A variety of opportunities for sponsoring and exhibiting are available. The conference is filled with opportunities for companies to showcase their services, products and thought leadership. As a sponsor or exhibitor, companies receive exposure to the ICOE 2021 attendees for one year until April 30, 2022.
U.S. Looks Forward to Hosting Discussions
“This event presents a unique and important opportunity to bring global leaders together to share experiences and knowhow, with the collective goal of advancing the industry,” says DOE’s Ramsey.
The MEC looks forward to sharing details from its soon–to–be–released “Commercialization Strategy for Marine Energy” with recommendations on how the U.S. can provide global leadership in this emerging renewable power sector. The strategy calls for domestic marine energy deployment targets of at least 50 MW by 2025, 500 MW by 2030, and 1 GW by 2035. Hitting these targets will support the Biden/Harris Administration’s goal to “Build Back Better” and increase economic growth, create thousands of high value jobs, support the clean energy transition, and promote exports in manufacturing and services.
