THeoREM research infrastructure drives development of WindQuest floating turbine project
- Developing technologies tailored to conditions in the marine environment requires a lot of testing. For its vertical-axis floating wind turbine project, HydroQuest can rely on the sea and basin testing resources at the THeoREM research infrastructure (THeoREM stands for Testing facilities for Hydrodynamics and Marine Renewable Energy). Theirs is a partnership which benefits both parties!
Brest, home of innovative floating wind turbine projects
Jean-François Simon, CEO of HydroQuest, explains that his Grenoble-based SME is working to develop and market breakthrough technologies in the field of renewable electricity generation. It already develops and sells river and marine turbines. Among its recent successes was the installation in May of a 1MW marine turbine on the EDF site at Paimpol-Bréhat. When the company wanted to diversify and develop a new floating wind project called WindQuest, it identified Brest as an ideal site on which to test its machines ready for the market. As for the WindQuest project, Jean-François Simon confirms he has “found in Ifremer’s teams a strong resonance with what we wanted to develop, a real desire to take these technologies forward.”
A preferred partner bringing mutual benefit
One benefit which has emerged and helps to define the partnership is a PhD research position which receives CIFRe grant funding, and began 6 months ago. The first phase of tests for this research is underway in Ifremer’s deep basin, to experimentally validate the behaviour and performance of the wind turbine and then to develop the control system for the forthcoming demonstration model, which will be tested for more than a year on the offshore testing station at Sainte-Anne-du-Portzic.
Besides its access to THeoREM test facilities, HydroQuest benefits from the expertise of researchers at the Hydrodynamics laboratory, who dedicate time to solving problems associated with the behaviour of floating objects in the ocean and marine environments. Remarkably, what is now an indispensable asset for the company was not its original specialism.
Promoting innovation in the maritime world is an integral part of Ifremer’s mission. But Jean-Marc Daniel, joint head of the THeoREM National Research Infrastructure, says: “Contact with these companies is very rewarding for us. These entrepreneurs are highly motivated and their infectious enthusiasm enriches our research establishment.” A further benefit is the possibility of opening up new avenues for research by Ifremer's teams.
THeoREM and Ifremer support innovation
THeoREM is certified at national level as a ‘research infrastructure’, jointly operated by Ifremer and Ecole Centrale de Nantes. To qualify for this certification from the Ministry of Research, the establishment meets a number of criteria: scientific and technological excellence, efficient and transparent governance, being open to a wide community, and being able to make the data obtained accessible to the scientific community at large, and beyond that to society as a whole.
Grouping together resources which complement one another increases the visibility of all parties at European level, and makes it possible to provide customers with a broad spectrum of wave, current and wind conditions at different depths, from the test basin to the open sea.
Significant investment is required to provide this infrastructure; it serves a community of researchers, but also companies, and thus promotes economic development in the region. Time spent using the Brest test basin divides into 30% on MRE research activities, 30% on instrument calibration projects for various applications (study of climate change, fisheries, coastal monitoring, etc.), and 30% on external services for local industry. The basin is also available for teaching activities, as part of the CPER Ijinmor project, including engineering schools requiring hydrodynamics for practicals and tutorials.
Companies can turn to Ifremer's teams for consulting activities (such as tests on an existing concept using their chosen configuration of conditions) or collaborate on research. This is what HydroQuest did, and GEPS Techno and Eolink before it: just a few of the many companies to do so in the field of MRE.
Campus mondiale de la mer develops access to research infrastructures
The THeoREM infrastructure is listed in the Marine research infrastructures and facilities portal, launched in 2018 by the Campus mondial de la mer. This portal offers to all types of organisations (research, business, support organisations) and entrepreneurs an overview of the potential for collaboration and service provision in the field of marine science and technology in western Brittany.
Contacts
Michel Répécaud
Ifremer, Head of the sea trials site in Ste Anne du Portzic
michel.repecaud@ifremer.fr
+33 (0)2 98 22 41 76
Alice Vanhoutte-Brunier
Technopôle Brest-Iroise, Campus mondial de la mer
alice.vanhoutte@tech-brest-iroise.fr
+ 33 (0)2 98 05 79 33
- Keywords : campusinfras, EMR, éolienne, essai, Hydroquest, Ifremer, infrastructure, innovation, MRE, recherche, research, wind turbine
- Published on 31/08/2019
