The Vizcaya Marine Energy Platform (BiMEP) is an infrastructure in real sea conditions for the research, demonstration and exploitation of marine energy harvesting devices.It was founded in July 2015 and is managed by the public company BIMEP S.A., involved by Ente Vasco de la Energía (EVE) and the Institute for Diversification and Energy Saving (IDAE).  

The aim of this infrastructure is to enable technology developers in the field of marine renewable energies to install and test their equipment, systems and subsystems.  

Main features

It is capable of testing and demonstrating wave energy harvesting devices, marine wind turbines, prototypes of floating foundation platforms of marine wind turbines, prototypes of fixed foundation for deep water of marine wind turbines, as well as the testing of auxiliary equipment and subsystems.   

It has a restricted navigation area of 5.3 Km2 in open sea with perimeter beaconing provided by seven nautical signage buoys. The devices located in the test area are grounded by four submarine electrical cables with a total evacuation capacity of 20MW additionally equipped with optical fiber. The installation has a transformer substation and electrical infrastructure with connection to the network. It also has a 24-hour navigation support system, an oceanographic buoy with data measurement since 2008 and offices for technical management.