SEM-REV 2.0 is now operational offshore!

10 years after the export cable was installed, the SEM-REV marine renewable energy test site has seen further investment. The aim was to upgrade the site and pave the way for hosting future prototypes. Thanks to funding from the French State, the Pays de la Loire Region and Europe, which Centrale Nantes applied for as part of the “France 2030” programme, the site has been able to connect new prototypes since April.

This offshore work programme is the conclusion of several years of joint effort, culminating in the installation of new cables on the submarine hub of the offshore site.

Whole teams and exceptional marine vessels were mobilised day and night for this operation over several stages in April, over the course of three weeks of offshore operations:

• Inspection of the submarine hub with an ROV and divers to prepare for its raising
• Raising the hub to the boat deck and connection of the two new cables.
• The two cables and their connectors were laid on the seabed, awaiting connection to a demonstrator.
• The submarine hub was then refitted with all its cables.

Watch the video of these operations:

Images: © Centrale Nantes/Time To Production

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

The offshore installation of cables and connectors on the submarine hub, the first of 3 operations that will enable the site to export up to 10MW to the grid, has therefore been successfully completed. The public high-voltage electricity distribution network by Enedis and the onshore delivery substation, located in the city of Le Croisic, will be updated over the coming months.

The SEM-REV test site is already hosting new offshore tests thanks to this work, with the arrival on site in June of the SeaLHYFE projectto test the production of green hydrogen at sea connected to one of the new cables. Then it will be the turn of a second floating wind turbine with the France Atlantique project with EOLINK, for which the first stages of installation will begin this year.

Work to increase the site’s grid injection capacity reflects the growing interest of a test site such as SEM-REV in 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 photovoltaics under a single organisation… In the very short term, the Foundation will operate the 5 French offshore test sites, including the SEM-REV created and developed by Centrale Nantes. The OPEN-C Foundation is a non-profit public-interest organisation which aims to speed up the energy transition and enhance France’s position on these strategic issues.

Original article published HERE>>