European Commission set back in 2014 a strategic energy and climate framework with the objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions at least 40% compared to those in 1990, and 80% by 2050. In order to achieve those ambitious objectives, EC set a 27% share for renewable energy by 2030, including offshore renewable energy such as wind and ocean (tides and waves) energy. A relevant percentage of those new renewable energy is located in the ocean, with a huge potential of growth both in investment and in installed capacity. Thus, offshore wind energy is expected to supply up to 4% of total electricity consumed in Europe by 2020, while according to Ocean Energy SET Plan, ocean energies could meet 10% of the EU’s power demand by 2050.
On the other hand, 20% of oil and 45% of natural gas reservoirs are located in offshore fields, most of them in deep or ultra-deep wells, where operation conditions are extremely aggressive. Current offshore oil wells are expected to increase their production from 7% in 2013 up to 11% by 2040.
Therefore, industry is already demanding material and components able to withstand offshore harsh conditions for a broad array of applications, as infrastructures in the ocean should operate virtually unattended during long periods of time. Some of these markets are already consolidated (Oil & Gas), while others are under development (wind) or emerging (tidal and waves). Deployment of these energy infrastructures in harsh environments will demand the integration of multiple systems and capacities, as companies operating in these markets usually count with very specific expertise and usually are not experts in materials science.
Since 1985 our Corrosion Team is giving service and support in the development and selection of materials, protective techniques to improve their behaviour in harsh service conditions and the development and implementation of monitoring techniques to guarantee the safety, efficacy and efficiency of offshore and industrial infrastructures. With more than 25 engineers, chemists and physics, TECNALIA is one of the leading organizations in Europe in the field of corrosion and corrosion protection, fully specialized in the study of materials and coatings in a large variety of aggressive offshore and industrial conditions. Our corrosion assessment services and RTD projects include both field and lab research, corrosion, bio-fouling and mechanical degradation testing, inspection, monitoring and failure analysis, with both indoor labs and ocean corrosion expositions sites, both on-shore and off-shore.
