France: SEM-REV 2.0 test site wraps up offshore infrastructure upgrades

July 18, 2023, by Amir Garanovic

SEM-REV 2.0, a test site for marine renewable energies offshore France, has completed the installation of cables and connectors on the subsea hub, enabling the upgraded site to connect new renewable energy technology prototypes.

The offshore operations program is the result of several years of joint efforts, and the installation of new cables at sea on the site’s subsea hub is the highlight.

Created by Centrale Nantes/CNRS, and operated by the recently launched OPEN-C Foundation, SEM-REV is one of the first European sites for multi-technology offshore testing that is connected to the grid.

Now, the site has welcomed infrastructure upgrades that were conducted in April during three weeks of offshore operations.

The offshore work involved the inspection of the subsea hub with an ROV and divers to prepare the lifting, lifting of the hub to the boat deck and connecting the two new cables, laying the two cables and their connectors to the seabed ahead of connection to a demonstrator, and refitting of the subsea hub with all of its cables.

These operations were carried out by teams from SEM-REV and Inyanga Tech, the submarine equipment supply contract holder responsible for carrying out the work. The cables, supplied by Prysmian with the connectors by ETA, were assembled in March 2023.

The offshore installation of cables and connectors on the subsea hub, the first of three operations that will enable the site to export up to 10MW to the grid, has therefore been successfully completed.

The updating of the public high-voltage electricity distribution network by Enedis and the updating of the onshore delivery substation, located in the city of Le Croisic, will be completed in the coming months, according to Ecole Nantes.

The SEM-REV test site is already hosting new offshore tests thanks to this work, with the arrival of the SeaLHYFE project in June to test the production of green hydrogen at sea, which is connected to one of the new cables.

This will be followed by a second floating wind turbine as part of the France Atlantique project with Eolink, for which the first stages of installation will begin this year.

This work to increase the site’s grid injection capacity reflects the growing interest in test sites such as SEM-REV for research projects and the development of technologies linked to renewable marine energies.

The creation of the OPEN-C Foundation is part of the same dynamic, bringing together all the French offshore testing facilities for floating offshore wind, tidal, wave, offshore hydrogen and floating solar under a single organization. In the very short term, the Foundation will operate the five French offshore test sites for marine renewables, including the SEM-REV.