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18 Mar 2024
The last workshop to disseminate the findings of the KONFLOT project entitled “Control co-design of floating renewables” took place on March 14, with the participation of 10 Basque companies interested in these findings.
The closing KONFLOT event was attended by more than 30 representatives of 17 entities from the floating wind and wave energy value chain. The morning session focused on KONFLOT as a unique project of high international interest.
The aim of the event was to present the findings from two years of research on the KONFLOT project. These findings were divided into two case studies, the first focusing on floating wind and the second on wave energy.
Marcos Suárez, from the Basque Energy Cluster, and Eider Robles, from Tecnalia, were responsible for opening the event. They went on to give a brief introduction about the project to the attendees, making special mention of the most noteworthy milestones achieved. Then, Markel Peñalba presented the latest Elkartek proposal, KONFLOT+. Following that, the attendees were split into two groups, based on the interest of their organisations.
In the group that dealt with the findings for floating wind turbines, Tecnalia and UPV/EHU focused on explaining the control systems used in the co-design tool, while BCAM presented the conclusions obtained in terms of optimising the calculations. Meanwhile, Ikerlan presented the results for a specific subsystem of the wind turbine, the pitch system. Tecnalia concluded by discussing their initial analysis of the potential impact of these developments, which it is estimated could contribute to reducing the final cost of energy generation by up to 17%.
Mondragon University presented the results of the case study on waves to stakeholders in the sector. The most significant conclusion was the 20% improvement in aerodynamic efficiency and energy generated from the control co-design of the wave energy harvester.
At the end of the day, the attendees were able to share their impressions and the majority of them were of the same mind: the subject matter is essential for developers of floating platforms to allow them to optimise their developments, but they need the collaboration of the OEMs, which until now have remained tight-lipped, whereas in the case of wave energy, the implementation is simpler as only one company develops the entire device.
In addition to the companies taking part in the consortium, the following entities attended: CARR RENEWABLES, HINE, IDOM, MUGAPE, NABLA WIND HUB, NAUTILUS FLOATING SOLUTIONS, SAITEC OFFSORE TECHNOLOGIES, SENER, TRAFAG AND ULMA FORJA.
The KONFLOT project is funded by the Basque Government's Department for Economic Development, Sustainability and the Environment (Elkartek 2022 programme). The consortium is led by Tecnalia and, along with the Basque Energy Cluster, consists of BCAM, Ikerlan, Mondragon University and UPV/EHU.
Keyword
Technology
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