UCC offers world-class marine renewable energy test facilities free-of-charge
11 September 2013 - 31 October 2013
Austria
The Marine Renewable Infrastructure Network (MARINET), co-ordinated by University College Cork (UCC), is pleased to announce the opening of the fifth and final call on September 16th offering free-of-charge use of Irish and European leading test facilities for marine renewable energy R&D. Access to academic expertise is included under the call, with the EC funding usual costs. Start-up companies, research groups and entrepreneurs working in the area of marine renewable energy and based in the EU or in FP7 associated States will be particualarly interested in this offer, which closes 31st October.
Ireland is one of the most energetic locations in the world in terms of wave and offshore-wind climates. These are huge natural resources for the country, which could be harnessed for national energy use or for export to power-hungry neighbouring countries. 45 marine energy R&D infrastructures were originally available via the MARINET network. Some facilities are now ‘sold out’ however having reached full capacity. Many facilities are still on offer in this final call however, covering the wave, tidal and offshore-wind fields. MARINET covers the access costs to these facilities, which typically range from €1,000 to €30,000 per week depending on the complexity of the facility. Personnel expertise and advice is an integral part of the service provided at each facility. MARINET also provides a financial contribution to assist the team with travel and accommodation costs.
Irelands National Ocean Test Facility is also on offer through this initiative. UCC’s own Beaufort Research National Ocean Energy Test Facility houses an ocean wave basin and an electrical Power Take-Off rig.
The Beaufort Research Ocean Wave Basin is a 25m long, 18m wide and 1m deep basin which can generate waves in order to test the performance of wave energy concepts. This allows for the fundamental characteristics of a device to be tested as well as modelling the device in real sea conditions. Such testing can determine hydrodynamic performance in a range of conditions, power take-off performance, site specific wave generation, naval architecture set-up in terms of motion setup, weight distribution, balance and stability, sea-keeping, mooring set-up, validation of pre-completed numerical models, limited survival (based on scale) and power map production.
The unique design of UCCs multi-functional test rig is used for scaled laboratory testing of rotational power take-off equipment, control and grid integration of a wide range of electrical systems used in ocean and wind energy technologies. For far lower costs than at-sea testing, results from the test rig can inform device developers’ decision-making before, during and after expensive at-sea trials. Salvador Ceballos from Tecnalia Research & Innovation, Spain had this to say about their experience testing at Beaufort Research: “Measured data from the Rotating test rig at Beaufort Research was used in an academic paper. This real measured data verified that new control strategies were implementable in hardware. The paper entitled "Efficiency Optimization in Low Inertia Wells Turbine-Oscillating Water Column Devices” has been accepted for publication on IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion.”
An applicant team must largely be based in EU Member States or States associated with the 7th Framework Programme. Team members based outside the EU can also participate as long as they are not the majority in the team. The team must apply for a facility located outside their home country. Results may be published if they prove interesting - however these can be tailored to fully protect intellectual property if desired.
Typical projects might be:
• A start-up company teaming up with their local university to test the efficiency of a novel energy conversion system at a world-class electrical research facility abroad.
• A research group testing the corrosion characteristics of a new material that they have designed for use on offshore platforms.
How to apply
Go to www.fp7-marinet.eu for further details and to make an application. Call opens on 27th June and closes 20th August 2013.
Contact
Jan Erik Hanssen (concerning access by teams from industry)
Christophe Maisondieu (concerning access by teams from public research centres, or general queries on the application process)
Mark Healy (broader queries on the MARINET initiative) info@1-tech.eu
+32 2280 1284
access@fp7-marinet.eu
+33 298 224 733
info@fp7-marinet.eu
+353 21 425 0021
-ENDS-
Notes to Editors:
Pictures available.
MARINET Participants:
Facilities made available for the 5th Call Focus Group
Country Organisation Infrastructure Available
Belgium 1-Tech s.p.r.l. n/a
Brazil Instituto de Pesquisas Tecnológicas do Estado de São Paulo S.A. n/a
Denmark Aalborg Universitet • AAU Nissum Bredning Test Site
Denmark Danmarks Tekniske Universitet • DTU National test centre for large wind turbines
• DTU Current Flume with a Carriage
• DTU PowerLabDK
• DTU Mobile Wind Measurement Facilities
• DTU Mechanical test facilities
• DTU Database of wind characteristics
France Ecole Centrale de Nantes • ECN Hydrodynamic and Ocean Engineering Tank
France Institut Français de Recherche Pour l'Exploitation de la Mer • IFREMER Deep Seawater Wave Tank
• IFREMER Wave-Current Circulation Tank
• IFREMER Materials in Marine Environment Laboratory
Germany Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung Der Angewandten Forschung e.V. • FH-IWES Offshore Field Test Facilities
Germany Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover • n/a
Germany Universität Stuttgart • USTUTT Turbine Test rigs
• USTUTT Laminar Wind Tunnel
• USTUTT Nacelle-based LIDAR wind & load measurement system for wind turbines
Ireland University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Cork - Coordinator • UCC-HMRC Ocean Wave Basin
• UCC-HMRC Rotating Test Rig
Ireland Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland • SEAI Galway Bay 1/4 Scale Wave Energy Test Site
• SEAI Wave Energy Test Site, Belmullet
Italy Università degli Studi di Firenze • UNIFI-CRIACIV Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel
• UNIFI-CRIACIV Wave-Current Flume
Italy Università degli Studi della Tuscia n/a
Italy Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche • CNR-INSEAN Circulating Water Channel
• CNR-INSEAN Wave Tank
Netherlands Stichting Tidal Testing Centre • TTC Tidal Testing Centre Den Oever
Netherlands Stichting Energieonderzoek Centrum Nederland • ECNETH Database of Measurements on OWEZ
Norway Sintef Energi AS • SINTEF Renewable Energy Lab - SmartGrids
Norway Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet NTNU • NTNU Full-scale wind measurement station
Portugal Wave Energy Centre – Centro de Energia das Ondas • WAVEC OWC Pico
Spain Ente Vasco de la Energia • EVE Biscay Marine Energy Platform - bimep
• EVE Mutriku OWC plant
Spain Fundación Tecnalia Research & Innovation • TECNALIA Electrical PTO lab
UK National Renewable Energy Centre Ltd. • NAREC Large Scale Wave Flume
• NAREC CPTC Energy Link Labs
• NAREC Nautilus Rotary Test Rig
UK The University of Exeter • UNEXE South West Mooring Test Facility (SWMTF)
• UNEXE Dynamic Marine Component Test Facility
UK European Marine Energy Centre Ltd • EMEC Real Sea Test Sites
UK University of Strathclyde • UNI-STRATH Kelvin Hydrodynamics Laboratory
UK The University of Edinburgh • UEDIN Curved Wave tank
• UEDIN FloWave: The All Waters Current and Wave Test Facility
UK The Queen’s University of Belfast • QUB Portaferry Tidal Test Centre
• QUB Shallow Water Wave Tank
UK Plymouth University • PU PRIMaRE HF Radar Environmental Monitoring Facility (PHFREMF)
• PU COaST - Coastal Ocean and Sediment Transport Laboratories
About MARINET:
MARINET (Marine Renewables Infrastructure Network) is a network of research centres and organisations that are working together to accelerate the development of marine renewable energy – wave, tidal & offshore-wind – by streamlining their research and testing capabilities. Co-financed with €9m through the EC's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), the initiative runs for four years until 2015. MARINET offers periods of free-of-charge access to world-class testing facilities, standardises testing, coordinates research, provides focused training and organises industry networking. The network of 29 partners with 45 specialist marine research facilities is spread across 12 countries. Visiting companies and research groups can test technologies at any scale in the areas of wave energy, tidal energy, offshore-wind energy, environmental data or cross-cutting areas such as power take-off systems, grid integration, materials or moorings. In total over 700 weeks of access is available to an estimated 300 projects and 800 external users. The network aims to enhance the impact and capabilities of test infrastructures and to streamline the testing and development process in order to accelerate progress towards commercialisation of marine renewable energy. MARINET is managed by Beaufort Research, University College Cork.
About Beaufort Research, University College Cork
Beaufort Research, formally the Hydraulics and Maritime Research Centre (HMRC) at University College Cork is a centre of excellence for ocean renewable energy and coastal engineering, providing support to the maritime industry as well as engineering R&D. The Centre is the designated National Ocean Test Facility for Ireland, housing wave simulation facilities with a wave flume and an ocean wave basin. It provides infrastructure and research facilities to developers of ocean energy devices and coastal infrastructure, including grid-connected electrical test rigs. Since its establishment in 1979, the Centre has undertaken a variety of fundamental and applied research projects, together with contract research and industrial design. Beaufort Research is a partner in the new Irish Maritime and Energy Resource Cluster initiative (IMERC). An alliance between University College Cork, Cork Institute of Technology and the Irish Naval Service, IMERC aims to become a research and commercial cluster of world standing by realising Ireland’s potential in the global, maritime and energy markets of tomorrow. For further information, please visit http://www.ucc.ie/beaufort/(opens in new window) or www.imerc.ie.
Ireland is one of the most energetic locations in the world in terms of wave and offshore-wind climates. These are huge natural resources for the country, which could be harnessed for national energy use or for export to power-hungry neighbouring countries. 45 marine energy R&D infrastructures were originally available via the MARINET network. Some facilities are now ‘sold out’ however having reached full capacity. Many facilities are still on offer in this final call however, covering the wave, tidal and offshore-wind fields. MARINET covers the access costs to these facilities, which typically range from €1,000 to €30,000 per week depending on the complexity of the facility. Personnel expertise and advice is an integral part of the service provided at each facility. MARINET also provides a financial contribution to assist the team with travel and accommodation costs.
Irelands National Ocean Test Facility is also on offer through this initiative. UCC’s own Beaufort Research National Ocean Energy Test Facility houses an ocean wave basin and an electrical Power Take-Off rig.
The Beaufort Research Ocean Wave Basin is a 25m long, 18m wide and 1m deep basin which can generate waves in order to test the performance of wave energy concepts. This allows for the fundamental characteristics of a device to be tested as well as modelling the device in real sea conditions. Such testing can determine hydrodynamic performance in a range of conditions, power take-off performance, site specific wave generation, naval architecture set-up in terms of motion setup, weight distribution, balance and stability, sea-keeping, mooring set-up, validation of pre-completed numerical models, limited survival (based on scale) and power map production.
The unique design of UCCs multi-functional test rig is used for scaled laboratory testing of rotational power take-off equipment, control and grid integration of a wide range of electrical systems used in ocean and wind energy technologies. For far lower costs than at-sea testing, results from the test rig can inform device developers’ decision-making before, during and after expensive at-sea trials. Salvador Ceballos from Tecnalia Research & Innovation, Spain had this to say about their experience testing at Beaufort Research: “Measured data from the Rotating test rig at Beaufort Research was used in an academic paper. This real measured data verified that new control strategies were implementable in hardware. The paper entitled "Efficiency Optimization in Low Inertia Wells Turbine-Oscillating Water Column Devices” has been accepted for publication on IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion.”
An applicant team must largely be based in EU Member States or States associated with the 7th Framework Programme. Team members based outside the EU can also participate as long as they are not the majority in the team. The team must apply for a facility located outside their home country. Results may be published if they prove interesting - however these can be tailored to fully protect intellectual property if desired.
Typical projects might be:
• A start-up company teaming up with their local university to test the efficiency of a novel energy conversion system at a world-class electrical research facility abroad.
• A research group testing the corrosion characteristics of a new material that they have designed for use on offshore platforms.
How to apply
Go to www.fp7-marinet.eu for further details and to make an application. Call opens on 27th June and closes 20th August 2013.
Contact
Jan Erik Hanssen (concerning access by teams from industry)
Christophe Maisondieu (concerning access by teams from public research centres, or general queries on the application process)
Mark Healy (broader queries on the MARINET initiative) info@1-tech.eu
+32 2280 1284
access@fp7-marinet.eu
+33 298 224 733
info@fp7-marinet.eu
+353 21 425 0021
-ENDS-
Notes to Editors:
Pictures available.
MARINET Participants:
Facilities made available for the 5th Call Focus Group
Country Organisation Infrastructure Available
Belgium 1-Tech s.p.r.l. n/a
Brazil Instituto de Pesquisas Tecnológicas do Estado de São Paulo S.A. n/a
Denmark Aalborg Universitet • AAU Nissum Bredning Test Site
Denmark Danmarks Tekniske Universitet • DTU National test centre for large wind turbines
• DTU Current Flume with a Carriage
• DTU PowerLabDK
• DTU Mobile Wind Measurement Facilities
• DTU Mechanical test facilities
• DTU Database of wind characteristics
France Ecole Centrale de Nantes • ECN Hydrodynamic and Ocean Engineering Tank
France Institut Français de Recherche Pour l'Exploitation de la Mer • IFREMER Deep Seawater Wave Tank
• IFREMER Wave-Current Circulation Tank
• IFREMER Materials in Marine Environment Laboratory
Germany Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung Der Angewandten Forschung e.V. • FH-IWES Offshore Field Test Facilities
Germany Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover • n/a
Germany Universität Stuttgart • USTUTT Turbine Test rigs
• USTUTT Laminar Wind Tunnel
• USTUTT Nacelle-based LIDAR wind & load measurement system for wind turbines
Ireland University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Cork - Coordinator • UCC-HMRC Ocean Wave Basin
• UCC-HMRC Rotating Test Rig
Ireland Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland • SEAI Galway Bay 1/4 Scale Wave Energy Test Site
• SEAI Wave Energy Test Site, Belmullet
Italy Università degli Studi di Firenze • UNIFI-CRIACIV Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel
• UNIFI-CRIACIV Wave-Current Flume
Italy Università degli Studi della Tuscia n/a
Italy Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche • CNR-INSEAN Circulating Water Channel
• CNR-INSEAN Wave Tank
Netherlands Stichting Tidal Testing Centre • TTC Tidal Testing Centre Den Oever
Netherlands Stichting Energieonderzoek Centrum Nederland • ECNETH Database of Measurements on OWEZ
Norway Sintef Energi AS • SINTEF Renewable Energy Lab - SmartGrids
Norway Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet NTNU • NTNU Full-scale wind measurement station
Portugal Wave Energy Centre – Centro de Energia das Ondas • WAVEC OWC Pico
Spain Ente Vasco de la Energia • EVE Biscay Marine Energy Platform - bimep
• EVE Mutriku OWC plant
Spain Fundación Tecnalia Research & Innovation • TECNALIA Electrical PTO lab
UK National Renewable Energy Centre Ltd. • NAREC Large Scale Wave Flume
• NAREC CPTC Energy Link Labs
• NAREC Nautilus Rotary Test Rig
UK The University of Exeter • UNEXE South West Mooring Test Facility (SWMTF)
• UNEXE Dynamic Marine Component Test Facility
UK European Marine Energy Centre Ltd • EMEC Real Sea Test Sites
UK University of Strathclyde • UNI-STRATH Kelvin Hydrodynamics Laboratory
UK The University of Edinburgh • UEDIN Curved Wave tank
• UEDIN FloWave: The All Waters Current and Wave Test Facility
UK The Queen’s University of Belfast • QUB Portaferry Tidal Test Centre
• QUB Shallow Water Wave Tank
UK Plymouth University • PU PRIMaRE HF Radar Environmental Monitoring Facility (PHFREMF)
• PU COaST - Coastal Ocean and Sediment Transport Laboratories
About MARINET:
MARINET (Marine Renewables Infrastructure Network) is a network of research centres and organisations that are working together to accelerate the development of marine renewable energy – wave, tidal & offshore-wind – by streamlining their research and testing capabilities. Co-financed with €9m through the EC's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), the initiative runs for four years until 2015. MARINET offers periods of free-of-charge access to world-class testing facilities, standardises testing, coordinates research, provides focused training and organises industry networking. The network of 29 partners with 45 specialist marine research facilities is spread across 12 countries. Visiting companies and research groups can test technologies at any scale in the areas of wave energy, tidal energy, offshore-wind energy, environmental data or cross-cutting areas such as power take-off systems, grid integration, materials or moorings. In total over 700 weeks of access is available to an estimated 300 projects and 800 external users. The network aims to enhance the impact and capabilities of test infrastructures and to streamline the testing and development process in order to accelerate progress towards commercialisation of marine renewable energy. MARINET is managed by Beaufort Research, University College Cork.
About Beaufort Research, University College Cork
Beaufort Research, formally the Hydraulics and Maritime Research Centre (HMRC) at University College Cork is a centre of excellence for ocean renewable energy and coastal engineering, providing support to the maritime industry as well as engineering R&D. The Centre is the designated National Ocean Test Facility for Ireland, housing wave simulation facilities with a wave flume and an ocean wave basin. It provides infrastructure and research facilities to developers of ocean energy devices and coastal infrastructure, including grid-connected electrical test rigs. Since its establishment in 1979, the Centre has undertaken a variety of fundamental and applied research projects, together with contract research and industrial design. Beaufort Research is a partner in the new Irish Maritime and Energy Resource Cluster initiative (IMERC). An alliance between University College Cork, Cork Institute of Technology and the Irish Naval Service, IMERC aims to become a research and commercial cluster of world standing by realising Ireland’s potential in the global, maritime and energy markets of tomorrow. For further information, please visit http://www.ucc.ie/beaufort/(opens in new window) or www.imerc.ie.