GreenOffshoreTech (GOT) is a cluster facilitated project with the purpose of supporting innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), fostering development of the emerging Blue Economy industries by enabling new cross-sectorial and cross-border value chains based on shared challenges and the deployment of key enabling technologies (KET).
GreenOffshoreTech will facilitate the creation of new products, processes or services with the ambition to make offshore production and transport green, clean and sustainable towards a resource-efficient economy and EU GreenDeal, while facing Reindustrialization.
Our leading-edge cluster MAI Carbon is part of the project consortium that promotes collaboration between SMEs from different sectors, regions and countries in the use of key technologies such as advanced materials, advanced manufacturing, Industry 4.0 and environmental technologies in offshore wind energy, offshore aquaculture and the established offshore oil & gas and water transportation sectors.
Between September 2021 and September 2024, GreenOffshoreTech project has supported hundreds of SMEs in taking their innovative solutions to market. One of them is our CU member KiriCore Sustainable Materials. Read the interview with CEO Martin Hein here.
Company: KiriCore Sustainable Materials
Country: Poland
Homepage: http://www.kiricore.eu/
LinkedIn Page: KiriCore Sustainable Materials
Martin Hein, CEO of Polownia Sp. z o.o. | KiriCore Sustainable Materials
“Thanks to the GOT project we were able to establish contacts with major European rotor blade manufacturers.“
Why was GOT important to you/your SME?
It gave us the opportunity to develop our Minimum Viable Product, our KiriCore Material Mats. Our KiriCore Material Mats, which are based on Kiri wood, are a more sustainable and cost-effective substitute for Balsa core material and foams as core material in wind turbine blade composites.
What are the advantages of participating in a project like GOT?
Of course, the financial support was important for us. But at least as important were the networking opportunities with European partners, companies and investors, and the seminars and workshops. So thanks to the GOT project we were able to establish contacts with major European rotor blade manufacturers.
What were the big takeaways from participating and integrating into the GOT ecosystem?
Thanks to the GreenOffshoreTech ecosystem, we have been able to open up further areas of application for our KiriCore Material mats as a core material for composites. For example, we are currently in contact with manufacturers of rail vehicles, where composites are becoming increasingly important and our sustainable KiriCore Material mats, which are based on Kiri wood grown in Europe, are very suitable as a core material, Furthermore, we were also able to become a member of the Composites United Network on the basis of the GOT ecosystem, which further expands our network and the area of application of our KiriCore Material mats, as our KiriCore Material mats have a significantly better resin uptake behavior compared to Balsa core material. This has some implications for recycling and reuse of our KiriCore Material mats after their end-of-life as core material in composites of rotor blades of wind turbines. This is the reason, why there is interest of numerous companies in the Composites United network.
From start to finish, what was the biggest challenge and the greatest achievement?
The biggest challenge was the development of the Minimum Viable Product, the KiriCore Material mats. Here numerous tests had to be carried out, furthermore it was important to use Kiri wood from European origin in order to gain initial experience regarding the upscaling of the supply chain and the processing of the Kiri wood as well as the production of the KiriCore Material Mats. The biggest achievement was that we were able to win a first manufacturer of rotor blades for wind turbines to construct a prototype blade with composites based on KiriCore Material mats with us.
You can find more information about the project on the GOT homepage or on the LinkedIn channel.
Read more interviews with founders and managing directors of SMEs that were also supported by GOT here: https://greenoffshoretech.com/interviews/
These interviews are not intended to be exhaustive, but rather to gather feedback from some of the winners on the impact the funding has had on their business lives.
We’re looking for cross-national responses, representing different nationalities, sectors of the blue economy and experiences, as well as all genders.
Thanks to the GOT team for this interview!
