SEM-REV news

It's official: since 1st September 2023, the SEM-REV offshore test site is exclusively operated by the OPEN-C Foundation. Centrale Nantes, which in 2007 initiated what will rapidly become the 1st multi-technology offshore test site, is continuing its research activities and supporting the site as it evolves. Through this transfer of activity, and as a founder of the OPEN-C Foundation, Centrale Nantes is helping to accelerate the energy transition in France thanks to Renewable Marine Energies. Here's a look back at what the SEM-REV has achieved so far and its future within the newly-created OPEN-C Foundation, which will coordinate offshore testing entirely dedicated to floating wind turbines and marine renewable energies!

10 years after the installation of the export cable, the SEM-REV marine renewable energy test site has enjoyed further investment. The aim was to upgrade the site and pave the way for hosting future prototypes. Thanks to funding from the French State, the Pays de la Loire Region and Europe, which Centrale Nantes applied for as part of the "France 2030" programme, the site has been able to connect new prototypes since April.

Lhyfe's offshore hydrogen production test platform has been towed some 20 km off the Atlantic coast and successfully connected to the SEM-REV electrical hub.

The OPEN-C Foundation is a sponsor of Seanergy 2023, the Marine Renewable Energies (MRE) event on June 20 and 21 in Paris. Just a few months after our creation, we're delighted to be able to exchange ideas with all the players in the offshore wind and MRE sector, attending Seanergy.

Velella aims to develop several technological components and methods needed to prepare the deployment of commercial floating wind projects under the best economic, social and environmental conditions.

The FOWT 2023 conference (Floating Offshore Wind Turbines) will be held in Nantes on 10 and 11 May. These two days will be followed by technical visits, one of which will take participants offshore to visit the SEM-REV site.

Investment on the SEM-REV site continues! After receiving the site's new cables and connectors, the teams, led by INYANGA, have completed the installation of the connectors on the cables and prepared them for the installation offshore.

Centrale Nantes is proud to be one of the founding members of the OPEN-C Foundation and of our role in creating the largest European offshore testing facility, as pioneered by our SEM-REV test site.

In 2022, the offshore test site SEM-REV began a phase of investment and works to enhance its capacity to host new demonstration and research projects. Following the award of the underwater equipment supply contract launched in 2022, a consortium, led by INYANGA, recently delivered the new submarine cables and connectors.

Centrale Nantes was present at the 6th edition of the 'Nuit Blanche des chercheurs' organised by Nantes University on 2 February 2023.

Join us on Thursday 2 February 2023 at Stereolux, Hall 6 West. For this new edition of the "Nuit Blanche des Chercheurs" in Nantes on the theme "Vibrations". Come along and discover the buzzing world of research in Nantes! Centrale Nantes' research teams will give presentations on themes ranging from Marine Renewable Energies to earthquakes and the properties of explosions!

You need to evaluate the techno-economic performance potential of early-stage wave energy converter concepts ? The Technology Performance Level Assessment tool can help you: Join us for this presentation and tutorial for the online Technology Performance Levels (TPL) assessment tool.

Eolink, Valorem and Centrale Nantes have received €14.9m in funding from the “France 2030" funding programme. The financed project includes the manufacturing and commissioning of an innovative floating wind turbine developed by EOLINK.

Following several years of development in the LHEEA laboratory (Centrale Nantes / CNRS) a first offshore measurement campaign with a stabilised scanning LiDAR has been completed. This measuring device, the result of technological development in the laboratory, was deployed to characterise the wake of a floating wind turbine, FLOATGEN, installed on the SEM-REV test site.

If you are going to attend ICOE-OEE 2022 Donostia / San Sebastián, we invite you to join : Ocean DEMO & Blue-GIFT Side Event: "Deploying in European test sites. From consenting to decommissioning" 18 October - 16:00-17:30 CEST followed by a Networking drink.

Sylvie Retailleau, the French Minister for Higher Education and Research, visited Centrale Nantes on 14 October as part of a trip to the Loire Atlantique area.

Under the topic “Clean energy and the sea: what future for Atlantic regions?” we will address the contribution of EUfunds and the importance of cooperation in the delivery of innovative strategies, solutions, good practices and policies for the use of renewable energies through solutions based on the sea.

Discover the video presenting the project objectives and activities.

On 22 September 2022, LHYFE and the Sealhyfe project partners inaugurated the hydrogen production platform that is to be installed in the coming months on the Centrale Nantes offshore test site, SEM-REV. This test of hydrogen production from offshore renewable energy is a world first.

The 'Printemps de la Recherche' 2022 on "Offshore wind energy: challenges and prospects in energy transition" will take place on Thursday 15 September 2022 at La Carrière - Saint-Herblain (Nantes). This national event will bring together more than 200 representatives from business, research and education, government and local authority officials, associations, etc., and explore all aspects of offshore wind energy from the perspective of innovation.

The "MEA & AFLOWT Innovation Tour" gathered more than 100 participants from all over Europe on June 29 and 30 around Marine Renewable Energies at Centrale Nantes. This event was organized by Centrale Nantes, SEM-REV and WEAMEC within the framework of the MEA and AFLOWT projects, both funded by Interreg North West Europe.

As part of Centrale Nantes' participation in Seanergy 2022, join us on June 15 at 5:30 p.m. at the Pavillon des Pays de la Loire (Stand EF1 Hall 2).

On 24 March 2022, a first-ever evacuation exercise by helicopter from a floating wind turbine (FLOATGEN) took place on the SEM-REV offshore test site in France. This exercise in real conditions required cooperation between CROSS Etel, the Sécurité Civile, the SNSM, BW Ideol and Centrale Nantes.

Two engineers have joined the team to support the development of SEM-REV's activities and new projects. Discover the careers of Ellyn and Laura-Mae!

The cast iron shells of the IBOCS project developed by FMGC to ballast submarine electrical cables have been successfully removed from the SEM-REV test site! They were immersed on site for 3½ years, with regular monitoring throughout the experiment within the European FORESEA and OCEAN DEMO programmes. We take a look back at this experiment!

Enedis has already connected more than 536,000 renewable energy installations in the Pays de la Loire region and is committed to playing an active role in renewable energy development across France. The power grid operator has thus responded positively to the requested increase in power capacity on Centrale Nantes' offshore test site, SEM-REV.

Centrale Nantes has a new postdoctoral position available within the framework of the EU H2020 FLOATECH project. The overall objective of this project is to increase the technical maturity and the cost competitiveness of floating offshore wind energy. Among the different specific objectives, readiness of a real-time prediction of the wave field from a set of measurements and feeding the wind turbine controller is thought to be improved. Find here the complete offer and the application procedure.

With 295 applications received, 170 projects selected and the funding of more than 600 weeks of access to the MaRINET2 consortium's test facilities, the outcomes of the MaRINET2 Transnational Access program are extremely positive. This transnational program is a major component of the MaRINET2 project (H2020-INFRAIA, 2017-2021) aimed at accelerating the development and deployment of Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) technologies.

Work began offshore ten years ago on installing the export cable, thereby making SEM-REV - Centrale Nantes' offshore test site - a reality. Since then the site has certainly lived up to its initial promise.

The SEM-REV offshore test site is tasked with meeting the R&D challenges of Marine Renewable Energy technologies. To this end, measurements have been made on the offshore site since 2009. SEM-REV has just published a report summarising the meteorological and oceanic data from the site, located off the coast of Le Croisic.

Offshore wind environmental monitoring and impact studies are an important component of the research conducted at the SEM-REV offshore test site. The PIAFF&CO project will improve knowledge of flying fauna - birds and bats - in the vicinity of offshore wind farms. The project is run by Centrale Nantes in conjunction with the Centre d'Écologie et des Sciences de la Conservation du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, the St Nazaire offshore wind farm and BW Ideol.

The webinar presenting the "RESOURCECODE Marine Data Toolbox" and the associated sea state hindcast, organized on Thursday, March 10, 2022 by Ifremer and the project partners, was a great success with the participation of more than a hundred listeners from the research community and industry.

After a little more than two years of development, Ifremer, Centrale Nantes and the partners of the RESOURCECODE project (Ocean energy Era-Net Cofund project) are launching the "RESOURCECODE Marine Data Toolbox". A presentation webinar will be held on 10 March 2022 from 11:00 to 12:30 (CET) [10AM - 11.30AM GMT].

The French Ministry for Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MESRI) announced on 21 October 2021 the inclusion of THeoREM on the 2021 National Roadmap for Research Infrastructures. This roadmap was published on 08 March 2022.

This first, publicly available, environmental impact statement presents the work carried out, the observations and the results obtained on the SEM-REV offshore site, which is run by Centrale Nantes and the CNRS, on the Floatgen floating wind turbine. This 2 MW demonstrator, whose floating platform was developed by BW IDEOL, is deployed offshore and has been producing electricity since 2018.

A nacelle-mounted LiDAR, which allows upstream wind measurements, was installed in October 2020 on the floating offshore wind turbine, Floatgen, being tested on the Centrale Nantes offshore test site, SEM-REV.

The French Ministry for Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MESRI) announced on 21 October 2021 the inclusion of THeoREM on the 2021 National Roadmap for Research Infrastructures.

Centrale Nantes will be present at this year's Seanergy event in Nantes from 21 to 24 September 2021!

IFREMER and Centrale Nantes to present the ResourceCODE Marine Data Toolbox at the EWTEC 2021 Conference

Last June, as part of the SafeWAVE project, an offshore operation was conducted at SEM-REV with the project partner RTSYS, with the objective of collecting data near the WAVEGEM wave platform.

DNV, the independent energy expert and assurance provider, will lead the process safety study to identify the main environmental, safety and operational risks for the world's first offshore hydrogen production facilities.

Centrale Nantes and Forssea Robotics are happy to announce their collaboration in the Offshore Wind Market survey field.

On Friday 2 July, France 24 broadcast a feature on offshore wind energy in France. Meet Bertrand Alessandrini, a marine engineering researcher at Centrale Nantes, in the LHEEA Laboratory.

SEM-REV has been a member of the Phenomer network since July 2020. Initiated in 2013 by Ifremer and rolled out throughout Brittany, this exploratory participatory science project invites members of the public to report coloured water phenomena due to the proliferation of microorganisms. Last March, red water was observed on the SEM-REV site and samples were taken to help identify the species responsible.

With the objective of increasing the technical maturity and the cost competitiveness of floating offshore wind energy, FLOATECH aims to stimulate this transition.

A digital solution to design the anchoring and electrical connections of floating wind farms, optimising the performance and output of subsea connections, has been developed by a group of expert companies within offshore renewables.

The Interreg Atlantic Area funded Blue-GIFT programme has awarded recommendations for support to three marine renewable energy projects under its third and final call to test and validate technologies in real sea environments.

The EU-funded Ocean DEMO project 4th call opens on 4 June 2021. Successful applicants will receive free access to test their ocean energy products and services in real sea environments at the project’s network of test centres.

The world's first offshore hydrogen production facility, developed by Lhyfe and powered by electricity from a floating wind turbine, will be operational in 2022, off the coast of Le Croisic, at SEM-REV, Centrale Nantes' offshore test site.

The summary report of the SPECIES project, which was published on 21 May 2021, documents the potential impact associated with the submarine power cables of MRE projects, a recurring issue in consultation processes. The results of this project, coordinated by France Energies Marines and under the scientific direction of Ifremer, are reassuring and do not show any major negative impacts, but do call for further study, particularly with regard to the impact of electromagnetic fields in situ. The SEM-REV team contributed to this project.

During ICOE 2021 (International Conference on Ocean Energy), Thomas Soulard, Research Engineer at SEM-REV, participated in a live session regarding the European OCEAN DEMO programme. Together with Lisa Fitzpatrick, Project Manager at EMEC and James P. Murray, MSc, Programme Manager at Orbital Marine Power, they discussed "Scaling up to Multi-Device: What does it take?".

Blue-GIFT is running the third and final call for applications to test and validate marine renewable energy (MRE) technologies in real sea environments that will close on the 23rd of April 2021 at 17:00 UTC.

A €1.5 million project has been funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) programme of the European Union, which addresses the environmental concerns associated with emerging wave energy technologies.

Applications were open from 15 October to 15 November 2020 in the first Institut Carnot MERS call for projects. The selection committee met on 25 January 2021 and selected 8 projects.

Centrale Nantes, Ifremer and University Gustave Eiffel are bringing together their hydrodynamics and mechanical test facilities, to carry out research activities and collaborative projects with French and international companies.

Floatgen, the 2 MW floating wind turbine, installed on the Centrale Nantes offshore test site, SEM-REV (off Le Croisic), produced 14% more power in 2020 than in 2019, reaching an annual total of 6.8 GWh.

The year 2020 came to an end for SEM-REV with the news on a new demonstrator, the floating wind turbine EOLINK! 2021 has also gotten off to a great start as the team expands to welcome Lara and Enored. Let’s introduce these two engineers!

On 3 December, the company EOLINK and Centrale Nantes formally agreed to install a 5MW floating wind turbine on the SEM-REV test site, off the coast from Le Croisic. Since hosting FLOATGEN, the first floating wind turbine in France on site from 2018, Centrale Nantes is pushing ahead and is set to welcome EOLINK shortly with its innovative and promising wind turbine prototype.

Blue-GIFT is pleased to announce the third call for applications to test Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) technologies at the project’s test sites.

OPIN is organising a workshop at OEE2020 in conjunction with the OceanDEMO project. Both projects have been in operation since 2019, are Interreg NWE funded and have been engaged in providing novel and innovative supports to help the Ocean Energy sector address challenges for development and deployment.

One year on from the restoration work on the dome of the Cardinaux lighthouse, the wind measurement instruments at the Cardinaux lighthouse are back in service.

Eva Lassauge spent a few months with SEM-REV in the spring of 2020 on her internship. She shares her experience below!

The EU-funded Ocean DEMO project has awarded recommendations for support to 12 offshore renewable energy developers under its 3rd call. The awards will support developers on their path to commercialisation and ease the transition of ocean energy towards multi-device farms by providing free access to open sea test sites.

This year, Centrale Nantes is taking part in the National Science Fair (Fête de la Science) with a 100% virtual tour of the campus. Immerse yourself in a fun and informative way to discover Centrale Nantes!

The partners of the Sea-GRID Call for Expression of Interest unveiled today the five winning projects! Enthusiastic responses were received across the board to this call, which aims to develop concrete and innovative solutions for the smart management of electricity produced offshore on the Centrale Nantes test site, SEM-REV. The selected projects focus on new energy storage solutions, multi-use offshore platforms, onshore uses and the development of an underwater hub...

Numerous offshore operations are undertaken at SEM-REV during the spring and summer months. It is during this period that the weather conditions are more favourable, allowing work to be carried out efficiently and safely.

The FOWT (Floating Offshore Wind Turbines) 2020 Conference is held Marseille (7 & 8 September, and broadcast live) and by video-conference (9 September).

ImageInCentrale is a virtual tour of the Centrale Nantes campus including the LHEEA test facilities.

The final call for the EU-funded MaRINET2 project opens today, targeted at offshore energy technology developers who are looking to test their device or components. The project offers fully-funded access to a world-leading network of testing and research infrastructures in Europe.

This webinar will take place on June 30, 2020 from 15:00 to 16:30.

Marine Energy Alliance has reached a new milestone in june by awarding services to 23 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through its Second Call for Applications.

The EU-funded Ocean DEMO project opened its 3rd call today. Successful applicants will receive free access to test their ocean energy products and services in real sea environments at the project’s network of test centres.

A photo of FLOATGEN, on SEM-REV, Centrale Nantes's offshore test site, is on display until 14 July at the gates of the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris.

The EU-funded Ocean DEMO project has awarded recommendations for support to ten offshore renewable energy developers under its 2nd call. The awards will support developers on their path to commercialisation and ease the transition of ocean energy towards multi-device farms by providing free access to open sea test sites.

Confirming the outstanding production and availability numbers recorded throughout 2019, the 2 MW Floatgen floating offshore wind turbine, equipped with Ideol’s patented floating foundation and installed on the Sem-Rev test site (Atlantic Coast of France), achieved a new record monthly production in February.

The scanning LiDAR, a wind measurement instrument recently acquired by the LHEEA (summer 2019, funding from the region, ERDF, PIA), was installed on the terrace of the seafront villa in Penn Avel park on the Croisic site on 28 October 2019.

The Sea-GRID Call for Expression of Interest aims to develop concrete and innovative solutions, based on energy produced by marine renewable energy technologies (MRE) at the SEM-REV test site, run by Centrale Nantes. Sea-GRID is extended for a month, applications are expected until the 04th of May.

The Blue-GIFT (Blue Growth and Innovation Fast Tracked) project is pleased to announce the 2nd call for applications that will open on the 20th of January 2020. The call will close on the 30th of April 2020 at 17:00 UTC. Applications can benefit from an early assessment if the test plan requires a starting date on Q1 & Q2 2020.

Following very encouraging initial results communicated last July, the 2 MW Floatgen floating wind turbine, equipped with Ideol’s patented floating foundation and installed on the Centrale Nantes Offshore test site Sem-Rev (Atlantic Coast of France), exceeded production and availability expectations in the second half of 2019.

The aim of MEA is to progress the technical and commercial maturity level of early-stage (TRL 3 – 4) marine energy technology companies with the overall goal of reducing the risk of device failure in subsequent demonstration phases.

The main objective of Ocean DEMO (Demonstration Programme for Ocean Energy Pilot Farms and Supporting Technologies) is to help North West Europe enterprises working in low carbon technology to accelerate their transition from single prototype to multi-device farms by providing free access to world-leading test centres.

SBM Offshore is developing a unique type of wave energy converter, which measures 60 metres in length and 1.2 metres in diameter. The operating principle of this prototype is based on wave propagation which deforms a flexible structure made of Electro Active Polymers, thus generating electricity.

On Wednesday 21 August 2019, the WAVEGEM wave energy recovery platform was installed on Centrale Nantes' SEM-REV site, kicking off 18 months of offshore testing.

A new project, funded by Ocean Energy Era-Net Cofund, has been launched to support investment and growth in the wave and tidal energy sector through the creation of an integrated marine data toolbox. The RESOURCECODE project brings together the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), Ifremer, Ocean Data Lab, SmartBay Ireland, Centrale Nantes, University College Dublin, University of Edinburgh and INNOSEA.

SEM-REV, Centrale Nantes' offshore test site, which has been in place for over ten years now, continues to develop its operational and research tools. You can now consult the metocean data recorded at the offshore site located 10 nautical miles from Le Croisic and in the surrounding area.

SEANERGY 2019 closed its doors today. Centrale Nantes and the SEM-REV test site were particularly well represented at the forum, notably through their presence in the Pays de la Loire pavilion alongside other regional players in MRE. A look back at the highlights over the 3 days!

EU Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) is Europe's largest event dedicated to renewables and efficient energy use.

The first Ocean DEMO call for applications is now open. Successful applicants will receive free access to test their ocean energy products and services in real sea environments at the project’s network of test centres. Technology developers can apply for support packages to test multi-device farms or single devices able to scale up to multi-device in the future.

SEM-REV has been involved in environmental monitoring of its site for more than 10 years. This requires measurement and monitoring tools to be installed.

The €2.5 million Blue-GIFT (Blue Growth and Innovation Fast Tracked) project is pleased to announce the 1st call for applications. Funded by Interreg Atlantic Area, the Blue-GIFT project is a coordinated ocean energy technology demonstration programme encouraging longer-term demonstration and technology de-risking across the Atlantic Area regions.

FORESEA is an €11m project which helps to bring offshore renewable energy technologies to market by offering free access to a world-leading network of test centres: EMEC (UK), DMEC (NL), SEM REV (FR) and SmartBay (IE). 5 new technologies will be tested in this framework.

In early 2019 the team at SEM-REV were asked to contribute to a work of art using the movements of a buoy installed on SEM-REV and subjected to wave action.

The new Interreg NWE project Ocean DEMO is officially launched today. It provides funding to developers of marine renewable technologies to test their products or services in real sea environments.

The WAVEGEM hybrid platform, developed by Geps Techno and its partners within the framework of the IHES project, was launched in Saint Nazaire Port on 6th December 2018, and inaugurated and christened on 18 December 2018. It will be installed on the Centrale Nantes SEM-REV offshore test site in early 2019.

The Floatgen project, the first offshore wind turbine in France installed on the Centrale Nantes SEM-REV test site, received the "Etoiles de l’Europe" trophy on 5th December from Frédérique Vidal, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation. The aim of this trophy is to highlight the French teams that have chosen Europe to develop their research and open up to innovation.

After a busy and successful year the SEM-REV team is expanding!

The second large prototype to be installed on the Centrale Nantes offshore test site, SEM-REV, is currently being assembled in the Port of Saint Nazaire.

On 4 and 5 August, FMGC installed the cast iron shells (IBOCS) - developed to ballast subsea electrical cables - at a depth of 30 metres on the Centrale Nantes SEM-REV offshore test site.

Floating wind turbine Floatgen, the first offshore wind turbine installed off the French coast, exported its first kWh to the electricity grid.

Be part of the growth of floating wind power!Backed by Brittany and the Pays de la Loire region, the second edition of the annual FWP (Floating Wind Power) Atlantic Forum will take place from September 19 to 21, 2018.FWP 2018 is organized with the support of Centrale Nantes.

Our team has worked 24/7 with Mojo Maritime France for the last week on the SEM-REV offshore test site off the coast from Le Croisic. The goal was to replace a defective connection box which was preventing electrical connection to marine energy (wind and wave) converters.

ICOE and SEANERGY team up in 2018 to hold the world's biggest event in Marine Energies in Cherbourg, Normandy – France, from 12 to 14 June.

MEA aims to progress the combined technical and commercial maturity level of 40 SMEs by delivering a suite of bespoke integrated technical and commercial services. Centrale Nantes, through its LHEEA laboratory, is involved in this alliance.

On Thursday 12 April, Centrale Nantes installed a demonstrator, which aims to characterize underwater ambient noise, on its offshore test site, SEM-REV. This is part of the Acoustics of the SEA (SEAc) project developed by Nereis Environnement.

Three Marine Renewable Energy developers will be supported by FORESEA as part of the its 4th call, which is open until June 29, 2018.

EERA DeepWind'2018 is the 15th offshore wind R & D conference. Several LHEEA's researcher participated in the poster and conference sessions.

The OMDYN2 project - selected during the France Energies EMR ITE 2017 call for projects and with ANR (French National Research Agency) funding - was launched on 10 January. Following on from OMDYN1, Centrale Nantes is participating in the scientific management of the project, notably through the SEM-REV offshore test site, LHEEA teams and involvement of the GeM laboratory.

The Floatgen wind turbine, currently docked in the port of Saint-Nazaire before being towed offshore, produced its first electrons on Thursday 14 December.

The Floatgen wind turbine, currently docked in the port of Saint-Nazaire before being towed offshore, produced its first electrons on Thursday 14 December.

SEM-REV, the Centrale Nantes offshore test site has participated in the international meeting of the European offshore test sites for several years. The actions of SEM-REV are in line with the various recent initiatives aimed at promoting exchanges between test sites such as UE MARINERG-i, FORESEA, MARINET1 and 2, THEOREM, etc.

Ideol, Centrale Nantes and Bouygues Travaux Publics will inaugurate Floatgen, the first offshore wind turbine in France. This historical occasion marks the starting point for a new national industry.

The construction phase of the concrete floating foundation designed by Ideol and built by Bouygues Travaux Publics has taken a major step forward with its floatation in the Louis Joubert Lock at Saint-Nazaire.

Centrale Nantes (the DAUC and SEMREV research teams from the Hydrodynamics, Energetics, Atmospheric Environment lab) and ENVSN recently installed a new wind sensor on the Kerroch light in Ploemeur (Brittany). This action falls within the framework of WindMorbihan project managed by ENVSN (Quiberon) and Compagnie des Ports du Morbihan,

The positioning of the Floatgen mooring system off Le Croisic marks an important step in the progress of this project and paves the way for the installation of the first offshore wind turbine in France.