MaRINET2 grants virtual access to offshore research data

 
The EU-funded MaRINET2 project has launched its Virtual Access Service that provides researchers and technology developers with remote access to datasets gathered by offshore renewable energy research centers.

The service will help improve the standard of research across Europe in the offshore renewable energy area through improved access to data and research collaboration, MaRINET2 said.

Three research facilities have made databases available, with more to be developed and added over the course of the MaRINET2 project.

The databases available include CENER – Windbench, Ifremer – HOMERE, and NTNU – Skipheia Met Station.

MaRINET noted that remote and free-of-charge access to datasets can be obtained via applications.

Jimmy Murphy, MaRINET2 Project Coordinator from University College Cork, said: “High quality research is founded on high quality data access. MaRINET2’s Virtual Access Service provides a vehicle to increase the quality, and quantity, of data available to researchers in offshore renewable energy. We plan to build on this over the lifetime of the project.”

CENER’s Windbench verification and validation (V&V) platform has been developed to guide wind energy model developers and end-users on best practices for the evaluation of models.

HOMERE is a wave hindcast database produced by IFREMER. It was developed with the objective of providing a relevant dataset suitable for research activities related to wave resource characterization and adapted to engineering studies for the design of marine structures and more specifically offshore energy converters.

The Skipheia Met Station contains two 100 meter met masts providing data collected by ultrasonic anemometers. MaRINET2 said the station offers an extensive data-base of wind conditions measured over a time period of over 6 years.

MaRINET2 is a €10.5 million project funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 program, and coordinated by the Marine and Renewable Energy Ireland (MaREI) Centre in University College Cork.

The project aims to accelerate the development of offshore renewable energy technologies by providing free-of-charge access to a network of 57 research facilities across Europe.