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ATL.A.HUB, coordinated by the Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias, will promote the creation of Atlantic hubs to accelerate land-based algae aquaculture and marine biotechnology in Europe
The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) of the European Commission has announced this week the launch of four new projects selected under the call ‘Smart Specialisation for Sustainable Blue Economy and Regenerative Ocean Farming’, funded through the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF).
These initiatives — MED-Hubs, ATL.A.HUB, Ocean Gardens and SeaGrow — with a total budget of €5.7 million, aim to advance sustainable algae cultivation and the development of blue innovation hubs, reinforcing Europe’s commitment to innovation, circularity and climate neutrality within the blue economy.
Among the approved projects, particular note should be made of the leadership of the Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias (ITC) in coordinating ATL.A.HUB (Atlantic Hubs to Boost Marine Algae Land-based Aquaculture and Biotechnology), a strategic initiative designed to accelerate the deployment of land-based algae aquaculture in Europe by consolidating collaborative networks between research centres, industry and public administrations.
With a budget of €1.57 million and a duration of 36 months (until September 2028), the project forms part of the European Union’s strategy to strengthen the blue economy and marine biotechnology through interregional cooperation and technological innovation.
ATL.A.HUB seeks to address the main bottlenecks in the European algae production value chain by developing a collaborative model based on shared infrastructures and services, while facilitating access to equipment, technical expertise and common regulatory frameworks.
The project will build on two of Europe’s largest algae cultivation and processing facilities, located in Pozo Izquierdo (Gran Canaria, Spain) and Vila Franca de Xira (Lisbon, Portugal), which will serve as launch platforms for the validation and scaling-up of new algae-based biotechnological products. It will also explore opportunities to replicate these hubs in other European Atlantic regions with suitable conditions for sector expansion.
The ATL.A.HUB consortium brings together seven organisations from Spain, Portugal, Latvia and France, including the Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias (ITC), the University of La Laguna (ULL) and the Canary Islands Agency for Research, Innovation and Information Society (ACIISI) of the Government of the Canary Islands as national partners; the Portuguese Aquaculture Association and A4F AlgaFuel S.A. from Portugal; and the start-ups LCA Dynamics SIA from Latvia and Edonia from France.
In addition, the Canary Islands-based companies Macrocarbon and Fresh Frutas Canarias 2016 participate in the project as associated entities without funding.
Interregional cooperation applied to blue innovation
During the virtual launch event held on 10 October, CINEA and the European Commission officially presented the four new projects approved under the call ‘Smart Specialisation and Regenerative Ocean Farming and Algae Innovation’: MED-Hubs, ATL.A.HUB, Ocean Gardens and SeaGrow.
According to CINEA’s official communication, these projects “will help create innovation centres along Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines, scale up sustainable algae cultivation and develop new marine-based products”, thereby accelerating the transition towards a more sustainable and resilient blue economy in Europe.
Through ATL.A.HUB, the ITC and its European partners will contribute to consolidating new production models based on algae cultivation across European Atlantic regions, further strengthening the position of the Canary Islands as a benchmark territory in the field of blue bioeconomy.
