The Marine Renewable energy industries (defined in the framework of the CLIPPER Project) are here defined as all the industrial activity related to the design, construction, maintenance of all types of ships and maritime structures for harnessing the power of the sea, including all the components of the supply chain of systems, equipment and services as well as all the value chain capable of proposing innovative technological projects in the field of MRE.
Within this framework, MRE include all the technologies enabling energy to be produced from different forces or resources in the marine environment: wind, wave, currents, tides, temperature variation between warm surface waters and cold waters deep down. Each of these sectors has a degree of maturity and specific development prospects in the medium/long term.
Pays de la Loire and Asturias present complementary ecosystems in terms of MRE: the cross-cooperation that this Resolutions contest develops, will allow lasting ties to be established between the two territories and will encourage innovation and internationalization in this rising sector.
Challenges in the MRE sector are numerous, for example:
- How to combine the development of MREs with other maritime activities? What applications for autonomous offshore energy production systems? —- How to ensure the acceptability of MRE?
- —- How to integrate the energy produced at sea into the local grid? —- How to optimize the storage of energy originating from MRE? What are the most efficient systems for storing energy produced at sea? —- How to adapt maritime and port infrastructures to the development of industrial activities linked to MRE? —- What recycling and/or reuse solutions for end-of-life turbines? —- How to reduce industrial maintenance risks at sea? —- How can the Levelized cost of energy (LCOE) be reduced in MRE projects? —- Is there any new solutions or promising materials offering better performances and better behaviour for offshore renewable energy projects? How to combine different types of materials? —- …
Photo credit: EDF Renouvelables