Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DTOceanPlus (Advanced Design Tools for Ocean Energy Systems Innovation, Development and Deployment)

Teaser

Ocean Energy could meet 10% of the EU power demand by 2050. However, technologies to harness ocean energy are not yet mature enough for widespread use, with performance, reliability and survivability challenges, leading to high costs of energy in comparison with other energy...

Summary

Ocean Energy could meet 10% of the EU power demand by 2050. However, technologies to harness ocean energy are not yet mature enough for widespread use, with performance, reliability and survivability challenges, leading to high costs of energy in comparison with other energy sources. It is clear from the more mature energy technologies that such challenges are typical early on in an industry, but can be overcome with the correct tools and processes to support market growth and technology innovation.

DTOceanPlus will accelerate the development of the Ocean Energy sector by developing and demonstrating a suite of 2nd generation advanced design tools for the selection, development and deployment of ocean energy systems (including sub-systems, energy capture devices and arrays), aligning innovation and development processes with those used in mature engineering sectors:
• Technology concept selection will be facilitated by a Structured Innovation design tools,
• Technology development will be enabled by a Stage-gate design tool, and
• Deployment optimisation will be implemented by Deployment and Assessment design tools.

This suite of design tools will reduce the technical and financial risks of devices and arrays to achieve the deployment of cost-competitive wave and tidal arrays. This will be focused on rapidly reducing the Levelised Cost of Energy (LCoE) offered which will contribute towards the European Union’s strategic energy goals. DTOceanPlus will achieve this by facilitating improvement of the reliability, performance and survivability of ocean energy systems and analysing the impact of design on energy yield, O&M and the environment, making the sector more attractive for private investment.

The DTOceanPlus suite of tools will be a professional user-friendly product and made freely available as open-source to the entire ocean energy sector, thus ensuring the maximum impact and usability of the tools. By producing standardised data models of ocean energy systems and by interfacing with industry standard software packages the result will be streamlined and impactful. Open access to these tools will also allow them to be utilised for education, training and knowledge exchange.

With applicability at regional, national, European and international levels, the DTOceanPlus suite of tools will be designed for technology developers, project developers, public funding bodies and private investors. The outputs of DTOceanPlus will also be relevant and of great value to a wider group of key stakeholders including policy makers, regulators, standards bodies, insurance providers and the supply chain. This will contribute to the strengthening of the European industrial technology base, thereby increasing job growth and European competitiveness.

Work performed

As a general overview, the following technical results achieved can be highlighted:

1. A comprehensive specification of the Ocean Energy Design Tools to meet the needs of the sector:
2. A handbook of software implementation to ensure compatibility during the integration stage:
3. Coding of four design tools prototypes and 10 modules with the following common features:
4. First module of the Assessment design tools, namely System Performance and Energy Yield (SPEY).
5. Six key demonstration scenarios for different users of the design tools, considering:
6. A novel framework for the standard representation of data formats for Ocean Energy Systems.

Other results related to the dissemination, exploitation and impact potential are as follows:

1. Project website operational since Month 3.
2. Dissemination and Communication Plan (DCP).
3. Education and Training Plan.
4. First version of the Data Management Plan (DMP).
5. Draft report on the analysis of potential markets for ocean energy technology.
6. First version of the plan for exploitation of the suite of design tools.
7. Annual report on the impact of the dissemination and communication activities:

Final results

This section includes the progress beyond the SoA, expected results and potential impact until the end of the project.

• DTOceanPlus suite of tools (TRL6): Designed to meet needs of all potential users and ocean energy sector; Open source license and common communication backbone that can be integrated with other industry software; Demonstrated in the setting of at least eight real world technology deployment programmes.
• Standard data models to represent ocean energy systems.
• A method of adding rigour and organisation to the process of innovation.
• Continued and objective measurement of technology progress through the TRLs.
• A single, integrated solution for the optimised design of ocean energy technologies all levels of ocean energy technology.
• Impact of array design decisions based on key metrics such as operational performance, lifetime costs and acceptability.
• Exploitation model to facilitate tool refinement and innovation beyond the end of the project.
• A set of recommendations for stakeholders in order to improve global performance of ocean energy arrays, devices and critical sub-systems.
• Analysis of the European supply chain, potential markets for Ocean Energy technology, as well as relevant legal, institutional and political barriers/enablers.

DTOceanPlus will generate the expected impacts listed in the call within 5 years of project completion:
• Reduce the technological risks for the next development stages: contribute to achieving an increase of 70% in the number of ocean energy technologies successfully brought to market.
• Significantly contribute to an increase in technology performance: contribute to achieving a 40% improvement in performance uncertainty, contributing to achieving a 6% and 8% reduction in LCOE for wave and tidal respectively.
• Increase reliability and lifetime, while decreasing operation and maintenance costs: contribute to achieving a 50% and 35% reduction in O&M costs for wave and tidal respectively.
• Reduce the life-cycle environmental and socio-economic impacts: contribute to achieving a 60% improvement in project licensing periods and 30% improvement in public acceptance.
• Reduce ocean energy technology installation time and cost and/or operational costs: contribute to achieving a 45% and 55% reduction in installation costs for wave and tidal respectively.
• The new design tools will eventually result in more cost-effective arrays: contribute to achieving tidal stream energy costs of 15 ct€/kWh or less and wave energy technology 20 ct€/kWh or less.
• Contribute to the strengthening the European industrial technology base: contribute to achieving a 30% increase in EU industrial competitiveness in ocean energy.

DTOceanPlus will also contribute to substantial Horizon 2020 key drivers and/or EU policies such as:
• Support fulfilment of the European Commission’s strategic energy goals.
• Improve the grid integration of ocean energy technologies.
• Contribution to standardisation processes.
• Advance design consensus in ocean energy sector.
• Enhance European innovation capacity.
• Create new market opportunities.
• Contribute to the fight against climate change.
• Facilitate communication between technology developers and public/private investors.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.dtoceanplus.eu.