SPOTLIGHT ON SWEDEN


FEATURE SPONSOR


FEATURE SPONSOR


SPOTLIGHT ON SWEDEN WAVE ENERGY BREAKTROUGH


PORTAL TO SWEDEN’S OFFSHORE INDUSTRY


OffshoreVäst is the name of the cooperation project and triple helix network operated by RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden) which started in 2013 prioritised by Vinnova, Sweden’s innovation agency


OffshoreVäst can be seen as a platform for interaction and innovation for Swedish actors in the offshore industry.


Sweden is known for its innovations and its technical expertise, which is what OffshoreVäst is all about. They bring together more than 70 players in the Swedish offshore industry forming a triple helix consortium, including members from industry, academy and the public sector. They have created an ideal environment for ideas to flourish and companies to meet. OffshoreVäst regularly host events where members of their consortium get the chance to discuss common challenges but also possible ideas for new projects.


THE SOLUTIONS OF TOMORROW The Projects within OffshoreVäst are directed to target specific gaps and problems in the market identified by consortium members. Through the


creation of strong R&D environments with a focus on efficient knowledge transfer to SMEs, they support the competitiveness of the Swedish suppliers to the offshore segment. They know that the solutions of tomorrow can be found in their own backyard and therefore try to take advantage of the high level of expertise which can be found within Sweden.


...an ideal


environment for ideas to flourish and companies to meet


SUCCESS STORIES Over the years, OffshoreVäst has operated and also been a part of a large number of successful projects in


several different sectors, such as offshore wind, ocean energy and sustainability. An on-going project which looks to be added to the same category is Testsite Skagerrak. The plan is to develop a Swedish test site which can be used by international and national actors in the offshore sector, cutting costs and creating jobs.


TOGETHER WE RISE OffshoreVäst is supported by Region Västra Götaland and the consortium is hosted by RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden), the largest (per capita) research institute in Europe.


OffshoreVäst


Waves4Power have worked on the development of wave energy since the 1980s


Currently, they are testing a full scale complete wave energy system outside Runde in Norway. They have built the complete infrastructure from scratch to test everything from building grid connection point, cable laying, connection hub and wave power device. The system is now fully functional and has delivered electricity to the Norwegian grid since May 2nd, 2017.


IMPROVING RELIABILITY Waves4Power is a network company where their Partner companies are responsible for different sub systems. Together with Partner companies they have developed a new generation of sea cables for this type of application (NKT), and are working on improving reliability of electric conversion systems (Siemens), hydraulics (Parker), anti- foiling systems (Jotun), biological hydraulic oil (Petronas), testing marine operation (Olympic Shipping and


BlueOrbis) and monitoring of the complete system (MEA and Delacroy).


IMPORTANT PARTNER Chalmers University of Technology is an important Partner and contributes with the theoretical analysis of the system and future development of marine procedures and vessels. Waves4Power has now shown that the company can fulfil the three important criteria for success: survivability, serviceability, profitability.


Wave4Power’s next step is to build a completely new Next Generation buoy and hub together with new Partner companies. The aim is to half the cost for production and deployment and they intend to do that by using a combination of plastic and special steel components for their system.


Next Generation will be tested at Runde in Norway and the company plan to build a small array at EMEC on Orkney Islands to speed up their verification process.


FIRST COMMERCIAL PROJECT After that the plans are, together with a fish farming company, to build a wave power park to supply energy to fish farms close to open sea. This will be Wave4Power’s first real commercial project.


The development has been supported in part by the Swedish Energy Agency and partly by Norwegian Enova. The company have run projects together with NKT cables, Chalmers and RISE to test their cables. They plan considerable R&D projects for future development and together with Stryvo Group in Norway Waves4Power are preparing a production factory at Fiskå (Vanylven).


Waves4Power


TURNING THE TIDE


The development of European marine renewable wave and tidal energy is fuelled by new innovative ideas and concepts, solid manufacturing skills and a profound knowledge of nature’s resources, challenges and impacts


Success in the wave and tidal energy market will depend on reducing the risks involved in the development process. Reliable resource estimates and forecasts as well as sustainable, yet cost-efficient devices and structures are vital.


EXPERIENCE


DHI has been supporting the marine renewable industry for more than a decade providing accurate knowledge about wave and tidal energy resources, design and operational conditions as


30 www.wavetidalenergynetwork.co.uk


well as assessment of possible impacts on nature itself.


The company has a long history of nature’s processes and wave and tidal energy developers in order to facilitate the successful implementation of technology in this emerging industry. Their support goes from initial testing of wave devices in their tanks and conducting detailed resource and impact assessments at sites – including the optimising of array configurations.


INDUSTRY INPUT They provided expert input on coastal processes for the EIA of the first commercial tidal projects successfully granted consent in Scotland. In addition, they’re currently providing a thoroughly calibrated and validated model of the Pentland Firth and Orkney


Island area to tidal and wave developers (under the patronage of The Crown Estate). This model will be utilised by the developers, among others, to conduct detailed resource assessments.


GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT


DHI has been exploring suitable sites for the development of marine energies in Europe, India, South-East Asia and Australia. The company have conducted projects in the marine environment in more than 100 countries around the world, drawing on extensive knowledge of marine structures and cabling to facilitate the transfer of knowledge from different marine-related industries to the wave and tidal energy industry.


DHI www.wavetidalenergynetwork.co.uk 31


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