Seaturns launches wave energy demonstrator offshore France

French start-up Seaturns has deployed a scaled wave energy prototype at Ifremer’s sea trials site in Sainte-Anne du Portzic, near Brest.

The 1:4 scale prototype will undergo trials to validate the performance and reliability of the device in marine and operational environment, which is one of the necessary steps before developing the technology at full-scale.

Seaturns’ wave energy converter can be seen as a floating oscillating wave surge converter using the principle of the oscillating water column. It works by having mooring lines coiled around the device, covering the surge induced by the incident swell into pitch.

Using this principle, a cylindrical float whose axis is parallel to the wave crest is set into oscillatory pitch motion. The mooring line is held at both ends by two anchors and two submerged buoys to keep the necessary tension.

Within the cylinder, a water pendulum induces compression and decompression cycles into two separate air-filled chambers.

The pressure differential between the two chambers generates an oscillatory air flow, which goes through an air turbine that produces electricity.

The sea trials at Sainte-Anne du Portzic site are expected to last for almost one year, according to Seaturns.

Once developed, the full-scale device is expected to be 9-12 meters long, spanning six meters in diameter, with the expected rated power at between 100-200kW, Seautrns revealed earlier.

The device will be suitable for multiple applications, including electricity generation, desalination, hydrogen production, and for other uses in offshore energy and tourism industries.

The current sea trials phase, conducted in accordance with Seaturns’ strategic roadmap, is part of the wider IAS-WEC project, which has been supported by the I-Nov competition organized by Bpifrance and ADEME.

It is financed by the French government as part of France 2030 and by the European Union – Next Generation EU as part of the France Relaunch recovery plan.

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