OES Annual Report 2012 - Ocean Energy Systems

80
Participation in Collaborative International Projects
SINGULAR: Smart and Sustainable Insular Electricity Grids Under Large Scale Renewable Integration
(FP7-ENERGY-2012)
A large share of the recent renewable energy sources (RES) installed capacity has already taken place in
insular electricity grids. However, the increasing share of RES in the generation mix of insular power systems
presents a big challenge in the efficient management of the insular distribution networks, mainly due to
the limited predictability and the high variability of renewable generation, features that make RES plants
non-dispatchable, in conjunction with the relevant small size of these networks. The Smart Grid initiative,
integrating advanced sensing technologies, intelligent control methods and bi-directional communications
into the contemporary electricity grid, provides excellent opportunities for energy efficiency improvements
and better integration of distributed generation, including RES technologies such as wind and photovoltaic
systems, coexisting with centralized generation units within an active network. POLITO is now studying the
possible integration of wave energy production in various applications to grid connected renewable energy
generation.
TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION
The public/private consortium SEAPOWER Scarl, formed by a private company and the University of
Naples, thanks to the collaboration between ADAG applied research group of Department of Aerospace
Engineering, University of Naples “Federico II” and Eng. Nicola Giorgio Morrone, developed one of the
most attractive projects of the last period in the field of renewable energy production using marine sources,
named GEM: The Ocean’s Kite (see: www.dias.unina.it/adag/ select research, renewables and then GEM)
The SEAPOWER public/private consortium will also set up and manage a real field laboratory in the Strait
of Messina opened to Italian and to foreign companies for testing their prototypes in the Messina Strait.
The laboratory will provide assistance in deploying the devices, data handling and certification for the
prototypes installed and tested in the area available to the consortium. The consortium is waiting for the
final permit to build the laboratory.
Finally, Polytechnic of Turin has developed a small demonstration unit for wave energy production named
ISWEC.
GEM project
The patented concept consists of a submerged floating body linked to the seabed by means of a tether.
This hull houses electrical generators and auxiliary systems. Two turbines are installed outside the floating
body and are exposed to the external currents.
Due to a relatively safe and easy self-orienting behaviour, GEM, The Ocean’s Kite, is a good candidate to
solve some problems involved with oscillating and reversing streams, typical of tidal current. An additional
advantage of its configuration is related to the possibility of avoiding the use of expensive submarine
foundations on the seabed, because these are replaced with a flexible anchorage. Releasing the anchorage
cable allows the system to pop-up for easy maintenance. A special diffuser has been designed to increase
the output power for very low speed currents.
After several numerical investigations, a series of experimental tests on two different models has been
carried out in the towing tank of the Department of Naval Engineering at the University of Naples.
The models tested were completely instrumented so that a dynamic behaviour and the off-nominal working
conditions were investigated.
ANNUAL
REPORT 2012