The Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN) is a public consortium jointly funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and the Government of the Canary Islands, with the support of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). A national and international benchmark in the marine-maritime field, it is recognized as a Singular Scientific and Technical Infrastructure (ICTS), whose main objective is to provide innovative services to promote research, technological development, and innovation in the marine-maritime sectors, with the aim of generating new products and services.PLOCAN operates as a multipurpose platform, offering land-based and offshore services through highly specialized infrastructure, supporting long-term ocean observation, providing testbeds, specialized training, underwater vehicles, and critical testing services and data to accelerate the validation and standardization of observation technologies. In doing so, it contributes to environmental restoration and conservation, promotes responsible and sustainable use of marine technologies, and improves relationships with marine ecosystems and their users.PLOCAN’s scientific and technological objectives include addressing climate change, promoting decarbonization and the resilience of ocean resources, supporting biodiversity, and integrated marine management, aligning with the project's activities.
PLOCAN in ACUICONECTA: In its marine testbeds, PLOCAN will test and validate, under real conditions, the integration of compact and modular prototypes adapted to isolated aquatic environments (offshore or remote islands, e.g., multipurpose systems with wind energy) into aquaculture, obtaining data on performance, efficiency, and resilience in a controlled marine environment. Likewise, the application of mobile and fixed monitoring systems for key water quality parameters (e.g., temperature, salinity, pH) in offshore aquaculture will be validated, implementing data transmission technologies from offshore locations to onshore control and analysis centers.Additionally, PLOCAN will support the design and planning for scaling up prototypes and technologies prior to large-scale implementation, as well as extrapolating results to industrial settings, ensuring technology transfer. PLOCAN will include its scientific and technological services for companies within the specialized aquaculture platform developed in the project and, in collaboration with other partners, will support the installation of pelagic zooplankton harvesting systems at its facilities to research alternative feed sources for animal aquaculture.It will also contribute to the study of the application of Sandbox (regulatory testbeds) and Technological Free Zones (ZLT), and participate in forums and events with aquaculture sector actors and stakeholders.