FORESEA supports 15 offshore renewable energy technologies

Thursday, 23 March, 2017 - 13:00

The FORESEA award enables developers to improve their renewable energy technologies and test it in real life conditions. (Graphic: Tocardo)

The FORESEA programme has awarded “recommendations for support” to 15 offshore renewable energy technologies following its second call for applications. The awards will provide a real boost to technology developers by allowing them to test their technologies on the open sea, attract further investment, and move further along the path to commercialisation.

FORESEA (Funding Ocean Renewable Energy through Strategic European Action) is an € 11 million project which helps to bring offshore renewable energy technologies to market by providing free access to a world-leading network of test centres: the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in the UK, SEM-REV in France, SmartBay in Ireland and Stichting Tidal Testing Centre in the Netherlands. Access is awarded through a series of competitive calls for application. It is financed by the Interreg North-West Europe (NWE), a European Territorial Cooperation Programme funded by the European Commission with the ambition to make the North-West Europe area a key economic player.

FORESEA’s user selection board has now awarded a “Recommendation for Support” to demonstration projects led by the following technology developers to test at the indicated test centre:

Aqua Power Technologies (EMEC)
ASVS (SEM REV)
Current2Current (EMEC)
Dresser-Rand (EMEC)
Finima Innovations (EMEC)
FishFlow Innovations (TTC)
Flex Sense (SEM REV)
FMGC (SEM REV)
Oceanlinx (EMEC)
Scotrenewables Tidal Power (EMEC)
Sigma Energy (EMEC)
Sustainable Marine Energy (EMEC)
Swirl Generators (EMEC)
Tocardo (TTC and EMEC)

The announcement comes as the Seanergy 2017 Conference opens its doors on March 22 -23, in Le Harve, France. Final confirmation of support will be granted to developers upon contract with the relevant test centre.

Hans van Breugel, CEO of Tocardo, welcomed their award: “The FORESEA programme enables TOCARDO to improve the dynamic umbilical power cable for our Universal Foundation Structure (UFS), needed for power evacuation from the semi-sub UFS platform to the power cable on the sea bed …Deployment of systems in real life conditions will increase the project developer’s confidence and reduce the cost of capital in projects. We have set our levelised cost of energy (LCoE) benchmark on offshore wind energy.”

Roelof Schuitema, Project Manager at the Tidal Testing Centre (TTC) indicated the importance of the announcement: “Today developers are being supported through the FORESEA programme to access TTC for the first time, and this marks the beginning of an exciting new period for us. We will look forward to welcoming Tocardo and Fishflow Innovations to TTC soon.”

Silke Funke / Ocean Energy Europe

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