A French firm developing a combined renewable offshore platform launches Its prototype this month
Combining four renewable energy technologies into one may seem like a pretty off-the-wall idea, but French engineering startup GEPS Techno is planning on doing just that with its MLiner machine.
The Saint-Nazaire-based company is developing an offshore platform capable of generating energy from solar, wind, tidal and wave sources. MLiner believes the 60MW capacity “boat” will be used first to supply electricity to offshore oil and gas rigs, or provide emergency or supplemental power to remote areas and islands.
Jean-Luc Longeroche, chief executive of GEPS, says the design evolved as he and co-founders Philippe Magaldi and Mathieu Barsacq, observed the rise of marine renewable technology and all arrived at the same conclusion: “All of the different technologies were more complicated and bigger than the others and no one tried to use simple concepts, or to integrate technologies in order to reduce the energy generation intermittence.”
GEPS believes MLiner will address the intermittence problem that plagues all types of renewable energy sources. For example, more energy will be produced by the solar panels during summertime, while predictable tidal streams provide a relatively constant production of electricity.
“The additional benefit is to share the cost of infrastructure, the hull, mooring and electrical conversion system, between all the energy sources. This will decrease the final cost of kWh produced,” adds Longeroche.
It's unsurprising the first major design challenge the three engineers had to solve was integration of the four separate renewable energy technologies. Particularly challenging is ensuring MLiner will be able to produce electricity consistently from several sources at the same time and directed to the same output.
This problem has been solved by extensive testing of the MLiner's electronic components, says Longeroche. Then the team focused on discovering the best design for the different energy converters, followed by months of testing for the optimum set up for the wind and tidal turbines.
Off-the-shelf products will all be used for the solar panels, wind and tidal turbines. “Why spend time and resources on something when a solution already exists,” says Longeroche. However, finding an existing wave energy converter that fitted the machine proved impossible.
Instead the team has designed a simple wave energy converter themselves. This includes a floating iron body, a closed, compartmentalised tank filled with sea water and a turbine, coupled with a generator, that sits in the middle of the tank. When a wave hits the floating body, water flows from one compartment to the other, spinning the turbine and thus generating energy.
Critics may question whether the four technologies will not simply conflict with each other when generating energy. However, Longeroche says that it is quite the contrary - they will complement each other.
“Hull movement from the wave converter makes wind turbines and stream turbines start with lower stream speed than with stand-alone installation,” he says. “Our estimations show a rate of overall mean power fluctuations reduced by about 30% compared to stand-alone renewable power plants.”
The company plans to launch a 1MW prototype MLiner this month to prove the figures through a years' worth of data that will also help optimise the structural, mechanical and electrical design. GEPS also plan to use it as a commercial demonstrator.
Crowdfunding
In order to fund the MLiner prototype GEPS has launched a campaign on crowdfunding site Indiegogo to raise the $256,000 needed for the project.
The firms' ultimate aim is to create a 60MW commercial version of the floating device, and with interest already being expressed by marine renewable energy firms including STX Solutions, Mecasoud, Ifremer and ICAM, the company hopes we could be seeing MLiners floating out at sea very soon.
To find out more about the MLiner visit: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mliner-hybrid-marine-energy-pioneer#/story