STRUCTURAL RELIABLE OFFSHORE FLOATING PV SOLUTION INTEGRATING CIRCULAR CONCRETE FLOATING BREAKWATER

Project Information

SUREWAVE

Grant agreement ID: 101083342

DOI

10.3030/101083342

EC signature date 30 September 2022

Start date 1 October 2022

End date 30 September 2026

Funded under

• Climate, Energy and Mobility

Total cost

€ 3 515 097,50

EU contribution

€ 3 515 097,50

Coordinated by

SINTEF AS
Norway

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SUREWAVE (STRUCTURAL RELIABLE OFFSHORE FLOATING PV SOLUTION INTEGRATING CIRCULAR CONCRETE FLOATING BREAKWATER)

Reporting period: 2022-10-01 to 2024-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Context: The European Offshore Renewable Energy Strategy emphasizes the need to advance established renewable energy technologies and diversify the technology portfolio to fully harness the vast potential of EU seas, aiming for climate neutrality by 2050. The maturity levels of offshore renewable technologies vary significantly, with Floating Photo-Voltaic (FPV) systems, which are already deployed in landlocked waters, still in the early stages of research and development for open sea deployment.

Motivation and Problems Addressed: Despite its potential, the deployment of offshore FPV is limited by the challenging marine environment, which includes issues such as wind loads, wave loads, currents, corrosion, and biofouling. These environmental factors significantly impact the design, structural integrity, power generation, durability, and investment costs of FPV systems. To address these challenges, detailed studies on the design, components, materials, and structures of FPV systems are necessary to ensure their reliability, longevity, ease of installation, and maintenance, while also considering economic, environmental, and social barriers.

Needs: The SUREWAVE project aims to harness the opportunity for advancing offshore floating photovoltaic (FPV) solutions by leveraging extensive expertise from the offshore wind sector to enhance the understanding and modeling of floating structures. It builds on consortium experience in FPV development and deployment in calm waters, coupled with specialized knowledge in floating solutions and advanced materials. This collaborative effort integrates diverse insights to drive innovation, sustainability, and efficiency in renewable energy systems, positioning SUREWAVE at the forefront of offshore renewable energy advancements.

Objective: The main objective of SUREWAVE is to develop and test an innovative FPV system concept that includes an external floating breakwater structure made of new circular materials. This structure will protect the FPV system against severe wave loads, thus increasing operational availability and energy output. The system is designed to operate in all European sea-basins, including harsh open-sea environments with high wind speeds (>25 m/s), currents (>1.2 m/s), and wave heights (>14 m).

Expected Impacts: The SUREWAVE project will produce 10 peer-reviewed publications, create one new PhD, and generate approximately 3,460 jobs by 2032. It will provide electricity to 1,335,608 people and establish contracts with 5-10 energy utilities, facilitating the installation of 1,240 MW of FPV capacity. Environmentally, it will avoid 70,000 tons of CO2 emissions per farm annually, totaling 1,736,000 tons of CO2 avoided by 2032.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In the project, we undertook several key technical and scientific activities with notable achievements. We researched and designed a novel breakwater concept with significant wave attenuation effects, ensuring protection and structural integrity for the internal FPV elements against wind, waves, and currents. This included optimizing the coupling design between the breakwater and FPV systems through innovative mechanical joints, ensuring robustness and flexibility. The anchoring and mooring of the entire FPV system were optimized to withstand extreme offshore conditions, integrating these into the breakwater design. We also improved energy connection systems, focusing on efficient routing and collection of DC homeruns between the floating solar installation and the breakwater.
Our material advancements included developing eighteen Lightweight Aggregate Concrete (LWAC) and two High-Performance Concrete (HPC) formulations for the breakwater's structural shell, along with twenty-six cellular lightweight concrete formulations for its inner core. Selected circular concrete formulations proved lightweight and easy to cast, handle, and transport, resulting in cost savings and increased construction efficiency.
We modeled the floating PV modules and their connectors to analyze the impact of marine growth and investigated the mooring loads under 50-year wave conditions using low-fidelity but accurate hydrodynamic models. High-fidelity CFD simulations were conducted to obtain damping coefficients and study nonlinear effects on coupled PV modules in steep waves. We estimated aerodynamic forces on the floating PV at various angles of FPV, and simulations demonstrated the breakwater's effectiveness in reducing these forces.
For material modeling, we selected a constitutive model for high-performance concrete and calibrated it using experimental data. We explored multiple computational methodologies for simulating reinforcement and chose the optimal one for global finite element simulations of the floating breakwater. A comprehensive 3D model of the breakwater was created in ABAQUS, with preliminary mechanical response simulations completed.
For concrete modeling, we developed a structured database based on an Artificial Neural Network (ANN). After reviewing various Python ANN libraries, we selected a more effective and accurate replacement for the initial backward algorithm. Initially, data from the literature were used, followed by data from LWAC and HPC concretes from WP4.
We implemented algorithms to simulate crack propagation and developed a user interface for database management and result verification.
Early-stage design tests of the SUREWAVE floating breakwater and FPV concept were performed at a reduced scale (1:10), and a complete characterization of hinge connections between solar modules was conducted, providing critical input for numerical models. Mechanical testing of the LWAC and HPC concretes began during this period and is currently ongoing.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

While the project is currently halfway through its timeline, we have identified some innovations.

1) Innovative Floating Breakwater Design
2) Cellular lightweight concrete for non-structural applications.
3) Lightweight aggregate concrete (LWAC) and high-performance concrete (HPC) for non-structural applications.

To ensure further uptake and success, the following key needs have been identified:

Comprehensive Evaluation: Conduct a thorough analysis of these innovations, encompassing competitor analysis, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) assessment, market demand, and technological feasibility. This step aims to gain a clear understanding of each solution's potential and unique advantages.
Preliminary Business Model Development: Develop a preliminary business model for each innovation based on the evaluation. This model should outline the value proposition, target markets, revenue streams, cost structure, and potential partnerships.
Integration into partner Projects: Incorporate the identified innovation into ongoing and future projects within partner organizations This practical application will furnish real-world data on performance, cost-effectiveness, and scalability.
Further Research and Development: Utilize the innovations as a foundation for additional research initiatives aimed at enhancing their performance, expanding their applications, and adapting them to diverse project requirements. Collaboration with academic institutions, research organizations, and industry partners will drive innovation in this area.