Project description
No more pumps for offshore wind turbines
Wind power is key to reaching the EU’s renewable goals. The offshore wind industry is fast becoming a mainstream supplier of low-carbon electricity. By 2032, it’s expected to cover a quarter of the EU’s electricity demand, up from 11 % today. Reducing operational costs will certainly boost uptake of this key technology. The EU-funded COOLWIND project is developing new technology that does not require seawater pumps, filters, heat exchangers or expensive salt water piping, nor chlorination of seawater. Instead of pumping cold seawater to the transformer platform, heated water from the converters is circulated and chilled in a subsea mounted cooler. Developed by Norway’s Future Technology, estimates show an annual savings of 3 GWh and EUR 1 million.
Objective
Offshore wind (OW) is a key technology in reaching the EUs and UNs ambitions for sustainable energy production. One of the remaining challenges in making OW financially, technically and environmentally viable is reduction of operational cost. In OW the electrical power is transmitted to shore with high voltage technology. A major challenge is the heat generation in the transformer platform that must be removed. The current State-of-the-art cooling solution is to pump seawater up to the platform using electrical pumps and pass seawater through heat exchangers to chill the cooling loop connected to the rectifiers. This is power consuming, brings in particles from the seawater which is causing frequent clogging of filters and gives high maintenance cost for the operator. Chlorination of the seawater is environmentally challenging.
Future Technology(FT), the Norwegian SME company behind the COOLWIND project solves this by introducing the unique patented subsea cooler FSCC® (Future Subsea Controllable Cooler). Instead of pumping cold seawater to the transformer platform, heated water from the converters is circulated and chilled in a subsea mounted cooler. FT proposes by this SME Instruments project to industrialize the prototype FSCC® from current TRL6 to TRL9, to reduce operating cost for the OW platform operators. Estimates show that up to 3GWh and 1M€/year may be saved.
The following benefits are identified compared to conventional systems:
No seawater pumps, No filters, No heat exchanger with seawater cooling medium, No expensive salt water piping, No chlorination of seawater/environmental pollution, Less power consumption and Less environmental emission.
All international operators show great interest in pursuing this new technology to benefit from the savings and 2 have already signed LOIs with FT.
FT is an SME having a strong team of 32 experts with years of experience from offshore energy projects and close cooperation with vital important subcontractors.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology mechanical engineering thermodynamic engineering heat engineering
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels renewable energy wind energy
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences environmental sciences pollution
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.2.3. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.3. - PRIORITY 'Societal challenges
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H2020-EU.2.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
3241 Sandefjord
Norway
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.