Relevant Projects

JRL-ORE members and collaborators are actively involved in the development of several offshore renewable energy projects. Their focus encompasses wave energy, mathematics applied to offshore wind energy, tool design for ocean energy technologies., etc.

The synergies and cooperation among research centres, universities, testing sites, industry and government has led to relevant research projects among which we can remark the following:

The VALID concept is to create a hybrid testing facility that encompasses several wave energy technologies as test cases, with the final goal of delivering a novel test rig configuration methodology for accelerating wave energy technological development. The consortium approach builds upon a unique hybrid method that is highly adaptable to technologies and can minimise expenditure for prototypes and of real sea-testing, as well as development times, whilst allowing to increase product quality and optimise components operation, reliability and adaptability.

Led by Erreka with a consortium of other 16 Basque companies including two research centres and the collaboration of the Basque Energy Cluster and the Basque Maritime Forum, the underlying objective of the HARSH project is industrial research in the search for solutions to common problems faced by companies in the development of their products for energy applications in marine environments. The consortium has designed the HARSHLAB, installed in BiMEP in summer 2018, and with the objective of enabling in situ experiments to be carried out during the different development stages of these products and services.

Advanced Design Tools for Ocean Energy Systems Innovation, Development and Deployment. The overarching objective of this offshore renewable energy project is to develop and demonstrate an open source, integrated suite of 2nd generation design tools for ocean energy technologies including sub-systems, energy capture devices and arrays. These tools will support the entire technology innovation process, from concept, through to development, to deployment, With 15 partners and 2 associates (NREL and SANDIA)

With a consortium of 11 Basque companies led by Nautilus, this project aims to demonstrate the technical-economic feasibility of a specific solution, in addition to positioning the Basque industry as a supplier of products and services for offshore wind in general. Astilleros de Murueta, Nervion Industries, Navacel, Vicinay Cadenas, Ormazabal, Astilleros de Murueta, NEM Solutions, CT Ingenieros, ERREKA, Iberdrola and HWS Concrete Solutions complete the industrial consortium, covering almost the whole supply chain. The Basque Energy Cluster, the Basque Maritime Cluster and Bilbao’s Port Cluster -Uniport- are also part of the project, linking different sector involved in the offshore wind supply chain, and promoting the project achievements.

The FLOW project is a clear example of the Basque Country activity along the whole supply chain. This is not only about R&D, but also about commercial projects. As an example, Nervion Industries, Vicinay Sestao and Navacel, were the main suppliers for the HyWind Scotland floating offshore wind demonstration project -5 positions, 6 MW each, located in Scotland. This fact positions the Basque Country as a strategic and unique site with all the manufacturing capabilities.

With 39 European partners the main objective of this activity is to capitalise on the advanced community that was created through the MaRINET project and expand and build on its achievements. Ensuring the continued integration of the leading European research infrastructures specialising in research, development and testing of offshore wind and ocean energy systems including electrical sub systems and grid integration through a range of TRLs (from laboratory scale TRL 1/2 through to open ocean at TRL 6/7). Laboratories of TECNALIA, Mutriku and BiMEP are part of the infraestructures.

European Technology and Innovation Platform for Ocean Energy 2. A coordination action that aims to optimise the use of existing resources available to the ocean energy sector, to streamline sectoral activities, and ultimately to accelerate its development and to maximise benefits for industry and society. It will maintain and strengthen the existing coordination of sectoral stakeholders via the ETIP Ocean platform, allow to share knowledge and exchange ‘lessons learnt’. Tecnalia is responsible of updating the existing Strategic Research Agenda and ensure that the SET Plan Ocean Energy Research & Innovation Implementation Plan is informed by the sector’s latest technological priorities.

Development and demonstration of an automated, modular and environmentally friendly multi-functional platform for open sea farm installations of the Blue Growth Industry.

Intelligent Mathematics for Offshore Wind is a project funded by the Basque Government with the participation of TECNALIA, BCAM, and three departments of UPV/EHU, to advance in the physical knowledge and in the mathematical modelling of offshore wind.

Project funded by SPRI, the Basque Government Agency for the Industrial development, was a key step in the development of OCEANTEC’s wave energy technology. The project consortium, led by OCEANTEC, included important companies in the Basque Country and joined the naval manufacturing and the electrical sectors.

The main aim of this initiative was to develop the optimised concept design of a large offshore auto-installable substation enabling the reduction of installation and transport costs as well as adaptation to different depths and types of seabed. MARINEL is also seeking to reinforce Basque industry in the offshore wind power sector. It was launched by a group of Basque Companies Iberdrola, La Naval, Oasa, Ormazabal, Arteche, Ingeteam and Semantic, with the collaboration of the Basque Energy Cluster and the Basque Maritime Forum.

The objective of this project led by TECNALIA is to collect, analyse and share open-sea operating data and experience to validate and de-risk several industrial innovations for wave energy, taking them from a laboratory environment (TRL 3) to a marine environment (TRL 5), opening the way to long term cost-reduction of over 50%. With a high-quality consortium with 11 partners, the Basque WEC developer Oceantec commissioned its prototype MARMOK-A-5 at BiMEP for two consecutive winters with successful results.

With the focus on floating large wind turbines (10 MW) installed in water depths from 50m to 200m, Tecnalia and Iberdrola participate in this European project that has the challenge of reducing the costs of production, installation and maintenance. Four floating offshore wind technologies have been developed and qualified, being NAUTILUS one of them.