FORESEA

The FORESEA project aims to help bring ocean energy technologies to market by providing access to northwestern Europe’s world-leading network of test centres. Through the project, the performance of innovative ocean renewable energy technologies will be demonstrated in real sea conditions, helping to leverage the investment needed to take these new products to market.

Access to test sites will be provided through a programme of competitive calls, run by the project’s consortium. The programme covers the following test centres:
•    European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC): Orkney Islands, UK
•    SmartBay: Galway, Ireland
•    SEM-REV: Nantes, France
•    Tidal Testing Centre: Den Oever, Netherlands

Ocean Energy Europe will provide support to the test centres for project implementation.

Eight technologies will be tested on the SEM-REV offshore test site with FORESEA support from 2017

Following the first three FORESEA calls for proposals, the applications of Geps Techno, Pytheas Technology, FMGC, Flex Sense, Ideol, INTERDRONES, HACE & NEREIS Environnement were selected to test their technologies at the SEM-REV offshore test site operated by Centrale Nantes.

Projects already tested or currently on the offshore test site:

The testing period of the floating wind turbine designed for this project will be financed partially within the FORESEA project and will enable analysis of:

• the impact of the floating wind turbine and its mooring system on the environment
• the quality and quantity of electricity produced by the wind turbine
• system performance
• exploitation and maintenance costs

Floatgen is installed on the SEM-REV since spring 2018.
Ideol Contact: Thomas Choisnet

> More info about FLOATGEN

FMGC deployed the cast iron shells they are developing to ballast energy cables, in December 2018 on SEM-REV. The objective is to demonstrate the stability of cables ballasted with shells over several months, including during winter storms.

FMGC Contact: Nicolas Saliot

> More info about IBOCS

NEREIS Environnement will install acoustic sensors to characterize the underwater ambient noise. The device 'SEAc' (Acoustics of the Sea) is an autonomous tool for recording and storing data. Specific spectral analysis modules will be used to characterize ambient noise and to model the sound footprint of sound sources to estimate the potential impact of MRE activities on marine fauna.

Project tested in April 2018 on the offshore test site.

Contact NEREIS Environnement: contact@nereisenvironnement.com

> More info about SEAc

Geps Techno, a company based in the Pays de la Loire, will test WAVEGEM® the wave-energy prototype for the IHES project (20m x 14m x 7m high) in 2018. It aims to validate the performance of energy recovery system by stabilizing the platform. As well as demonstrating the technology under operational conditions, the IHES project will enable the development of design tools, including digital models that will optimize the products of tomorrow. Innovation is present throughout the programme: hybrid energy storage (batteries and supercapacitors), controlled stabilization, regulation without mechanical sensor etc.

Geps Techno Contact: Jean-Luc Longeroche

> More info about WAVEGEM®

Projects soon to be installed on the offshore test site:

Centrale Nantes and IFREMER are both partners of the WEAMEC project called ECHOSONDE, which aims to develop an integrated acoustic observatory to monitor  the impact of marine renewable energy (MRE) on coastal pelagic ecosystems. As part of this project, the acoustic echosounder is planned to be deployed on SEM-REV test site. It will provide new methods for integrated acoustic monitoring and a unique high-resolution dataset on the local coastal pelagic ecosystem prior to the building of offshore wind farms.
(Picture: IFREMER)