Offshore Energy and Storage 2023 Malta - Sea Opportunity

Abstract

The years 2023 and 2024 marked a pivotal period for global climate and energy policy. The European Union was advancing its REPowerEU plan to accelerate renewable energy deployment and reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels. More globally, nations around the world have been ramping up efforts to meet clean energy targets under the Paris Agreement. Subsequently, the spotlight has increasingly turned to offshore renewable energy and long-duration storage systems as essential pillars of a resilient, low-carbon global economy. Offshore wind, in particular, offers vast untapped potential, especially when integrated with emerging technologies such as green hydrogen production, wave energy harvesting and compressed air energy storage. Given that nearly half of the world's population resides in coastal regions, the development of scalable offshore energy solutions is not just an environmental imperative—it is an economic one. In this context, the Offshore Energy and Storage Society (OSES) has emerged as a vital force in mobilising the international research community, industry stakeholders, and policy leaders towards the realisation of integrated offshore energy systems. The contributions in this Special Issue reflect the Society's mission and demonstrate the technical ingenuity, interdisciplinary thinking and systems-level insight required to advance offshore energy and storage innovations in support of global climate goals.

Carriveau drafted this Editorial Article. Article was reviewed by Sant and Garvey.

The authors have no conflicts of interest.

Dr. Rupp Carriveau is the director of the Environmental Energy Institute and co-director of the Turbulence and Energy Lab, and co-lead of AgUWin at the University of Windsor. His research activities focus on energy systems futures and advanced agricultural systems. Dr. Carriveau serves on several editorial boards, including Wind Engineering, Advances in Energy Research, and the International Journal of Sustainable Energy. He is a recipient of the University Scholar Award and has acted as a research ambassador for the Council of Ontario Universities. He is a Founder of the Offshore Energy and Storage Society (OSES) and co-chaired recent OSES Events in Ningbo, China; Brest, France; and recently chaired OSES2024 New Bedford. Dr. Carriveau represents Canada in the International Energy Agency Wind Task on Digitalization. He is the chair of the IEEE Ocean Energy Technology Committee and has been named to Canada's Clean50 for his contributions to clean capitalism.

Dr. Tonio Sant is a professor of fluid mechanics at the University of Malta and a leading expert in offshore renewable energy systems. He is the co-founder of FLASC (Floating Liquid-piston Accumulator using Seawater under Compression), a pioneering start-up focused on offshore energy storage solutions that integrate directly with floating renewable platforms. Dr. Sant's research bridges fluid dynamics, ocean engineering and energy systems, with a particular emphasis on sustainable offshore infrastructure. He has played a central role in advancing compressed energy storage technologies for marine environments and has published extensively on wave-structure interaction, offshore hydrodynamics and system integration. In addition to his academic leadership, Dr. Sant actively collaborates with industry and international consortia to advance offshore energy innovation in Europe and beyond. His work supports the global transition to net zero by enabling scalable, cost-effective storage solutions that address the intermittency and spatial challenges of offshore renewable energy.

Dr. Seamus Garvey is a professor of dynamics at the University of Nottingham and a leading authority on mechanical energy storage and offshore renewable systems. With a background in dynamics and aero-mechanical engineering, he has spearheaded numerous research initiatives focused on scalable, low-carbon technologies that support global decarbonisation efforts. Professor Garvey is the founder of two innovative start-ups: Tetrafloat, which develops novel floating platform technologies for offshore wind, and Cheesecake Energy Ltd., a company pioneering compressed air-based energy storage solutions for grid and industrial applications. His interdisciplinary work blends theoretical insight with practical engineering, aiming to overcome the spatial and temporal mismatches inherent in renewable energy production. A vocal advocate for holistic energy system thinking, he contributes regularly to public and policy discourse on sustainable energy futures. Professor Garvey's contributions continue to shape the direction of offshore infrastructure, storage integration, and systems-level approaches to enabling a net-zero economy.