Blue Event – 2024 Edition

On September 24 and 25, 2024, the Blue Event maritime drones for offshore wind power took place at the Bouguenais technocampus. A look back at these two days of events.

To better understand

Wind power represents the greatest potential for energy development in the marine environment in the coming decade. With a target of 50 farms in operation representing 45 GW installed by 2050, wind farms have become an essential part of modern energy production. The use of drones offers many advantages for monitoring and collecting a wide variety of data for different areas of application.

Day 1

The first day was dedicated to a sea trip to the Saint-Nazaire wind farm and SEM-REV, a marine test site for MRE. The sea trip was a real success, bringing together no fewer than 90 people in magnificent weather and “slightly rough” seas (as some can attest).

Day 2

The day began with an introduction to the challenges and prospects by Marc Lafosse, President of the Marine Renewable Energy Commission of the Renewable Energy Union (SER).

This was followed by four round tables on the following topics:

• Maritime surveillance: maritime safety and security and combating malicious acts
  Hosted by Pôle Mer Bretagne Atlantique
  Participants: Mélaine Loarer from the Maritime Prefecture, Marie Thabard from Iberdrola France, Gwenole Peronno from GEPS Techno, Alexandre Humeau from SIREHNA, and Antoine Tournet from DIODON Drone Technology.
•  Environmental observation and surveillance, above and below the sea
  Moderated by Thibault Pasquier from WEAMEC
  Participants: Marie Bathilde & Lucie Sadoun from DGAMPA, Nicolas Bernard from IREENA, Marc Lennon from Hytech-imaging, Laura Iborra from RWE, and Cédric Lefort from TIDAV.
•  Maintaining operational condition
  Moderated by Pôle Mer Méditerranée
  Participants: Maxime Gouget from EDF Renouvelables, Yves Chardard from Subsea Tech, Thierry Guillot from MaDfly – Marine Drone Services, Olivier Gassend from ASTRAEA Technologies, and Benjamin David from XSun
•  Logistics
  Moderated by Aerospace Valley
  Participants: Anne-Marie Haute from PILGRIM TECHNOLOGY, Christophe Mazel from DRONE VOLT, and Thomas Soulard from the OPEN-C Foundation.

Conclusion

This second day, rich in discussions, highlighted innovative solutions to meet the challenges ahead in the four topics addressed.

Thank you to Pôle Mer Bretagne Atlantique, Aerospace Valley, and Pôle Mer Méditerranée for organizing these two days, which allowed us to explore the impact of maritime drones in the offshore wind sector.