With WaveShield we aim to re-invent paint for RFID applications. Our goal is to commercialize a dry, non-toxic, 100% effective RFID shielding solution with enhanced environmental and applications aspects, aiming to replace the conventional shielding liquid paints. Conductive liquid paints are the most used solution for RFID shielding. They present a competitive quality/price ratio but the application process is complicated (9-step process) and time consuming (three to five days). Durability (dripping, cracking) and thickness control are also a challenge as they often generate shielding ineffectiveness (RFID signals go through holes or too thin layer of paint). Moreover, their VOCs content, along with the odor and dust emission during application, can have serious adverse health effects on workers and significant environmental impact. Thus, the RFID technology market is in need of a more effective, cleaner, enhanced alternative solution to prevent identification errors, simplify the application procedure and reduce the environmental impact. WaveShield technology is a pioneering, VOC-free, 100% effective shielding, ready-to-use dry paint film with an embedded and mastered shielding function. It has high durability and the application procedure is a clean, simplified 3-step process, applied in only one day, without the need to remove or cover items or evacuate the space to be coated. We create a cost-efficient coating technology at a competitive price (€30/m2) that can be applied by coating professionals through standard application techniques. CORSO MAGENTA is a pioneering start-up SME, expert in alternative coating products since its foundation in 2007. Since then, we have spent €2.6M on R&D to find an innovative solution and face those challenges. Through this project, we aim to reach revenues of about €17 million after the fifth year of commercialization and create at least 35 new job positions. With a Phase 2 investment of €1.49M, this would imply a ROI of 4.55.

There is no doubt that the offshore renewable energy exploitation has a great potential to grow, and it will greatly help reach climate goals and CO2 reduction levels and are likely to secure Europe’s technical and economic competitiveness. However, the open sea is a very aggressive environment with may largely affect the maintenance costs of the installations and therefore the overall cost of offshore energy generation. The owners of offshore assets are well aware of that and are paying a steep price. A massive amount of steel goes into those assets, and all this metal is subject to degradation, which explains why corrosion accounts for approximately 60% of offshore maintenance cost. Preventive maintenance is not just expensive but also reduces the operating life of the assets. Despite the convenient immunity to corrosion of Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRP), the use of those materials for large marine structures is limited to secondary components. The main objective of the FIBREGY project is to enable the extensive use of FRP materials in the structure of the next generation of large Renewable Energy Offshore Platforms (REOPs) by overcoming the above mentioned challenges. In order to achieve this objective, the project will develop, qualify and audit innovative FRP materials for offshore applications, elaborate new design procedures and guidelines, generate efficient production, inspection and monitoring methodologies, and validate and demonstrate advanced software analysis tools. Clear performance indicators will be designed and applied in the evaluation of two existing REOPs concepts to be re-engineered in FRP in the project. Finally, the different technologies generated in FIBREGY will be demonstrated by using advanced simulation techniques and building a real-scale prototype to validate the materials, tools, solutions, procedures and guidelines to be developed in FIBREGY.