Coordinateurs du projet
Context
Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) is a sustainable and promising source of energy for carbon-free electricity generation. However, the complexity of the marine environment and the high cost of installing and maintaining offshore infrastructure mean that MRE technologies must undergo prototyping and sea trials. This is the purpose of the SEM-REV sea trial site, which enables testing under real-life conditions. With 1 km² of dedicated maritime space and an 8 MW submarine connection cable, the platform allows manufacturers to test and validate their prototypes up to scale 1. SEM-REV is currently hosting FLOATGEN, France’s first floating wind turbine, as well as the WAVEGEM wave energy device installed as part of the IHES project.
The next step is to integrate new MRE producers using different technologies (fixed wind turbines, wave or hybrid systems, etc.) and storage solutions by adding a floating electrical substation. This will be the entry point for researchers and manufacturers wishing to test and validate innovative marine electrical conversion architectures, energy management algorithms, techniques or methods for diagnosing and monitoring marine infrastructure (in particular power and anchor cables), and sensors and measurement systems.
The ORIGAMI meta-project aims to provide a long-term structural framework for this new phase of multidisciplinary development and promotion of the SEM-REV platform, a phase that requires strong collaboration in the short term between hydrodynamicists at Centrale Nantes (LHEEA) and electrical engineers at the University of Nantes (IREENA), the University of Rennes (SATIE), and CEA-Tech (DGDO).
Scientific breakthroughs and innovation
The ORIGAMI project aims to address the integration of energy production from MRE systems from a multidisciplinary perspective, taking into account hydrodynamics, electrical engineering, environmental monitoring, and modeling. It is based on three pillars:
- Acquiring unique feedback from SEM-REV infrastructure
- Modeling the entire electrical chain from the resource to the grid
- Integrating components and new methods for testing innovative storage systems, in-service monitoring of installations, and hybrid systems
As part of the WEAMEC-2019 call for projects, the ORIGAMI project aims to initiate collaboration and will address several issues:
- Define how to manage electrical co-activity in hybrid production parks: draw up specifications for the electrical substation to be deployed in 2020 by developing a Wave-to-Wire simulation model based on the results of the Sea-Storage project
- Monitor critical infrastructure such as cables during operation: develop a prototype umbilical diagnostic device based on the identification in the time domain of the parameters of a multi-line transmission model, which has already been theoretically validated in the ANR EMODI project. This low-cost system for early detection of umbilical seal breaches is designed to be installed at the wind turbine and/or electrical substation
- Assess the possibility of optimizing existing electrical infrastructure and quantify the optimized power, which is the logical continuation of the BlueGrid project, led by SATIE in collaboration with IREENA, following on from a previous collaboration in the ANR EMODI project.
The project proposes strong collaboration between laboratories in the Loire region and is based, on the one hand, on the unique expertise of IREENA, SATIE, and CEA in electrical engineering and that of LHEEA in ocean engineering and, on the other hand, on the integrated use of all the laboratory’s testing facilities at the SEMREV site.
The project will thus cover the entire conversion chain through a systemic and experimental approach conducted on the infrastructure of the CEA Tech SEANergy platform at Technocampus Océan and the SEM-REV offshore test site, operated by Centrale Nantes.
Expected technical and economic impact
- Demonstration of the use of electrical infrastructure, primarily the SEM-REV export cable, at over 8MW (for which it was originally designed) using models and actual data from the SEM-REV in operation
- The project will enable the development and validation of the umbilical diagnostic equipment developed by IREENA as part of EMODI, with successful integration into the electrical substation
- Drafting of specifications for a floating electrical laboratory to test innovative conversion and storage architectures, as well as monitoring equipment
- Initiation of two theses between 2021 and 2022 or definition of several research projects for the future in collaboration between SEM-REV, IREENA, and CEA-TECH
DemonstratorPrototype diagnostic device for early detection of umbilical seal failure.
Results
Wave/Wind to Wire Modeling – Preliminary Results
- Complete functional definition of the tool (including mission, stakeholders)
- Complexity of adapting to different timestamps
- A preliminary model based on the IREENA/SATIE models, with the aim of calibrating losses based on SEMREV monitoring data, but using open models to enable publication.
Development and calibration of a low-cost early warning system for umbilical diagnostic
Preliminary results
- Description of the theory behind linearization and model identification for detecting changes in capacity between screens linked to water ingress detection.
- Verification against the COMSOL model with progressive water ingress into the cable section.
- Early-stage experimental validation (using a SEMREV export cable sample)
- Specification of the diagnostic device
ORIGAMI is studying thermal analysis (thermal setpoint not to be exceeded during dynamic cable use) instead of a more conventional current limitation in order to maximize the use of existing SEM-REV infrastructure.
The case study is based on a wave energy farm that could be installed near the SEM-REV test site.
The number of wave energy converters (N_WEC) can be optimized by comparing constraints:
Initial results: Preliminary studies analyzing 10 months of operation show that production can be increased by 10 to 20% by limiting temperature rather than current.
See publication: C.-H. Bonnard; A. Blavette; Salvy Bourguet; Thomas Soulard; Yves Perignon. “Near-optimal use of a MRE export cable considering thermal and techno-economic aspects” ISGT EU 26-28 Oct. 2020
Electrical specifications for the future multi-purpose platform at the SEM-REV test site:
- Preliminary review of existing platforms
- Regulatory context
- Benefit from projects identified under the Sea-GRID AMI
