RiCORE — short for Risk-Based Consenting for Offshore Renewables — was a European Union Horizon 2020 research project that ran from 2014 to 2016. Its mission: to improve how offshore renewable energy projects (such as wave, tidal, and offshore wind) are consented, monitored and regulated across EU Member States.
At the heart of RiCORE was the idea that environmental assessments and permitting could be made smarter, faster and more efficient — by applying a risk-based approach tailored to the scale, location and technology of each project.
A Brief History of the RiCORE Project
Funded under the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme (Grant Agreement No. 646436), RiCORE brought together marine scientists, regulators, developers and legal experts to tackle some of the biggest bottlenecks in marine energy deployment:
- High costs and delays tied to environmental impact assessments
- Lack of standardization across EU countries
- Uncertainty around post-deployment monitoring requirements
Through detailed research and expert workshops, the project helped define new frameworks for consenting processes, including the now-influential Survey, Deploy and Monitor (SDM) policy — a model of adaptive management still used in policy circles today.
Why This Site Exists Now
The original RiCORE website served as a repository for reports, guidance and research. When the domain expired, we saw an opportunity not just to preserve that knowledge — but to build on it.
Today, RiCORE Renewables continues the spirit of the original project, offering:
- Insights on offshore renewable energy
- Explainers of policy and consenting frameworks
- Updates on innovation and environmental monitoring
- Guidance for developers, researchers, and regulators
We aim to be a bridge between research, regulation and real-world deployment — helping push marine energy forward in a rapidly changing climate and political landscape.
What You’ll Find Here
🟢 Educational Articles – on consenting, environmental monitoring, risk-based frameworks and marine technology
🟢 Project Spotlights – highlighting past and current EU-funded offshore energy initiatives
🟢 Policy Updates & Trends – covering permitting reforms, adaptive management and marine regulations
🟢 Tools & Resources – glossaries, templates and EU policy links for developers and students
A Note on Legacy
This site is not affiliated with the original RiCORE consortium, but is independently operated with the goal of preserving and expanding the knowledge it helped generate. Where possible, we link to archived materials or reproduce summaries of public content for educational purposes.
If you were involved in the original project or would like to contribute to this next chapter, get in touch here.
Thanks for visiting RiCORE Renewables — let’s build the future of offshore energy, smarter.
