FUNDACION INSTITUTO DE HIDRAULICA AMBIENTAL DE CANTABRIA

Their core work

FIHAC is a Spanish research foundation specializing in environmental hydraulics, coastal engineering, and offshore energy systems. Based in Santander, they provide technical expertise on coastal hazards (flooding, erosion, sea-level rise), climate adaptation for coastal infrastructure, and the engineering challenges of floating offshore wind — including mooring systems, dynamic cables, and installation techniques. They bridge the gap between ocean science and practical engineering solutions for energy and climate resilience applications.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2015–2018), FIHAC focused on broad climate services, offshore renewable energy research infrastructure, and foundational knowledge exchange — keywords like "transnational access," "training," "standards," and "climate services" dominated. From 2019 onward, their work sharpened decisively toward floating offshore wind commercialization, with repeated emphasis on O&M, LCOE reduction, mooring systems, and 10MW turbine demonstration. Simultaneously, their coastal climate work matured from generic services toward specific hazard assessment (sea-level rise, flood, erosion).

FIHAC is moving from broad ocean science research toward applied floating offshore wind engineering and coastal climate risk quantification — two areas with growing commercial demand in Europe.

How they like to work

FIHAC operates almost exclusively as a supporting expert rather than a project leader — zero projects as coordinator, with five of eight as a third party (subcontracted for specific technical tasks). This suggests they are brought in for specialized hydraulic and coastal engineering know-how rather than for project management capacity. With 187 unique partners across 26 countries, they are well-connected and comfortable working in large European consortia, but they are a service provider within those consortia rather than an agenda-setter.

Extensive European network spanning 187 unique consortium partners across 26 countries, reflecting broad exposure through large RIA projects in the marine energy and climate domains. No single geographic cluster — their partnerships are pan-European.

What sets them apart

FIHAC sits at the intersection of coastal/ocean science and offshore wind engineering — a combination that few research centres in Spain or Europe can match at this depth. Their simultaneous work on coastal climate hazards and floating wind structures means they understand both the environmental forces (waves, currents, sea-level rise) and the engineering responses (mooring design, floater optimization). For any consortium needing ocean environment expertise applied to energy infrastructure or coastal adaptation, they are a natural specialist partner.

Highlights from their portfolio

• COREWIND
  Largest funded project (EUR 497,812) and their most technically focused work on floating wind cost reduction — mooring, cables, and LCOE.
• CoCliCo
  Addresses the high-demand topic of coastal climate services combining sea-level rise, flood, and erosion risk into actionable adaptation guidance.
• FLAGSHIP
  Demonstration-scale project for a 10MW floating offshore wind turbine — rare move from research into real-world validation.