Annual Report 2017
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GERMANY

Jochen Bard and Fabian Thalemann Fraunhofer IWES

In the public sector, around 15 R&D institutes and universities have been involved into developing wave, tidal current and osmotic power mainly in the framework of National and European research projects over the last decade.

Within the joint project “TidalPower”, running until June 2018, a consortium consisting of SCHOTTEL HYDRO, Fraunhofer IEE (former IWES Kassel), the Institute for Fluid- and Thermodynamics (IFT) at the University of Siegen, Hamburg Ship Model Basin (HSVA) and Potsdam Model Basin (SVA) aims at facilitating the development of the “TRITON” platform, a 2.5 MW semi-submersible platform carrying 40 SCHOTTEL HYDRO tidal turbines. In late 2017, SCHOTTEL HYDRO announced the discontinuation of the “TRITON” platform and gave up on plans to deploy a prototype at a berth at the FORCE tidal research centre in the Bay of Fundy, Canada. Now, smaller floating platforms comparable to Sustainable Marine Energy’s (SME) 280 kW “PLAT-I” platform are to be used instead. Separated from the discontinu ation of the “TRITON”, SCHOTTEL HYDRO continues to provide their “SIT” tidal turbines and custom power take-off systems to third party tidal developers like SME, QED Naval and Minesto.

The NEMOS GmbH together with Uni Duisburg Essen, the Development Centre for Ship Technology and Transport Systems, Schaeffler Technologies AG and LIROS GmbH, continued the development of its wave energy conversion technology in the joint project “Design, Manufacturing, Installation and Commissioning of NEMOS Wave Power Plant Model at 1:1 Scale”. The project runs until July 2019 and is supposed to deliver a full-scale WEC prototype. Construction started in February at a Belgian shipyard, the installation in the North Sea near the Port of Ostend was permitted in June 2017. In-situ soil investigation were successfully performed in September. (source: www.nemos.org).

Wave power developer SINN Power GmbH started the project “Testing of a Modular Concept for the Generation of Grid Conform Electricity from Irregular Ocean Waves in a Generator Array” in August 2017. The project runs until July 2019 and is supposed to deliver four additional WEC modules to the existing test site at the port of Heraklion, Greece.

Furthermore, a floating WEC grid of 21 modules is to be installed at an organic shrimp farm on the island of São Vicente, Cape Verde, in 2018 (source: www.sinnpower.com). REAC Energy GmbH from Bavaria, southern Germany, tested a single unit of their modular tidal turbine technology in Orkney waters in October. The “StreamCube” is a vertical axis Savonius turbine with self-adjusting rotor geometry, rated at 6 kW (source: http://www.reac-energy.com).

The project STENSEA – “Stored Energy in the Sea” delivered and tested a 1:10 scale model of a concrete sphere based pumped storage in Bodensee lake, Germany. The project finished successfully in March under participation of Fraunhofer IEE and HOCHTIEF Solutions AG. A successor project testing a larger sphere offshore is currently being developed for funding.

Other German suppliers, such as Bosch Rexroth, Schaeffler, Contitech, Thyssen Krupp, Hunger Hydraulik and Hydac deliver components and parts for a number of ocean energy devices – for wave as well as tidal turbine technologies, mainly in Europe. Certification companies such as the DNV Gl-Group and consultants are contributing to the technology and project development in the sector. This international collaboration demonstrates the technology export opportunities, which exist in ocean energy for the German industry.

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“Stored Energy in the Sea” - 1:10 scale model tested in Lake Constance, Germany