Energy is undeniably among the paramount services that profoundly contribute to our overall well-being. Currently, energy production is produced from finite resources such as fossil fuels which release greenhouse gases and have detrimental effects on our planet. Renewable energy sources harness energy from inexhaustible materials, ensuring a continuous and sustainable supply. Wind and hydro produce the greatest share of renewable energy supply, with solar being one of the fastest rising renewable energy sources.

Solar power can be extracted through using the light energy from the sun in a process known as the photovoltaic (PV) effect. PV systems are made of semiconductor materials and the light energy of the sun to produce electricity. Recent technologies involve rigid materials that can be installed on rooftops and land, as well as flexible materials that can be used as façade materials for windows in houses.

Moreover, solar thermal power plants harness the sun's energy through an ingenious process involving the use of mirrors to concentrate sunlight, generating intense heat. This intense heat is then utilised to produce high-pressure steam, which in turn drives turbines to generate clean and renewable electricity.

The Maritime technologies sector has become an innovation driven and advanced sector that encompasses shipbuilding and offshore renewable energy (ORE), including fixed and floating offshore wind farms.

Currently around the 90% of the world’s trade is transported by international maritime transport. Although ships are pollutant, they actually represent the most efficient transport in terms of carbon emissions per transported ton. Despite of this fact, the size of the ships themselves and of global fleets as a whole, make vessels and maritime transport one of the sectors upon which we have to act in order to achieve a greener future, and two of the key trends for this are alternative fuels and green retrofitting in order to drastically cut the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions of maritime transport.

Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE), on its side, constitutes a clean and inexhaustible source of energy, capable of reducing GHG emissions and creating less damage to the environment in comparison to traditional fossil-based energy. Offshore wind energy is increasingly gaining ground as one of the best sources of renewable energy in Europe and the European Union. The EU strategy for Offshore Renewable Energy sets the objective of increasing offshore wind energy production capacity from 12 GW to at least 60 GW by 2030 and 200 GW by 2050. This development would be complemented by 40 GW of Ocean Energy and other emerging technologies by 2050.

The demand for offshore structures, equipment, and zero-emission specialized vessels represents a great opportunity for the industrial value chains, clusters and ecosystems.

The Defence sector covers occupations within design, construction and maintenance of military systems, subsystems and components, all essential in relation to mobilizing, deploying and maintaining military operations.

The defence industry covers land, sea and air, but also ICT and cybersecurity. All products and services must comply with military standards, which is why the industry is mainly led by a few large multinational companies, which have the capacity to design, develop and produce complete systems. The industry is distinguished by their complexity, multifunctionality and high technological level.

The defence sector plays a major role in the sustainable development as some of the large companies in the sector contribute to the green transition by, for example, monitoring greenhouse gas emissions, the development of the digital transition and innovative technologies that support the development of carbon free emissions.