SEM-REV test site officially opens

SEM-REV, marine renewable energy test site located 30 km off the city of Le Croisic on the French Atlantic coast, has been officially opened on August 25, 2015.

Operated jointly by the CNRS and Centrale Nantes, SEM-REV has installed equipment at sea and on land for the development and demonstration of scaled marine renewable energy technology prototypes.

This operational test site is equipped with an electric cable with a capacity of 8 MW connected to the French grid.

Christophe Clergeau, Vice-President of the Regional Council of Pays de la Loire, said: “SEM-REV is now fully operational. This head start is decisive for the take-off of the marine renewable energy industry. Hundreds of jobs are expected to be created, with export orders and the construction of 3 new factories in our region.”

According to the Ecole Centrale Nates, SEM-REV is of particular interest to wave energy and floating wind developers.

Its system of oceanic and meteorological measurements and atypical performance will allow researchers in the region, but also across Europe, to further progress in marine knowledge, biology and marine geology, interaction with ocean conditions, and in wave and current energy generation.

To remind, the Franco-Scottish consortium consisting of Scottish Hydro Group and French Wenex Equipments landed a contract earlier this year that involved manufacturing and installation of the array cabling infrastructure on the SEM-REV marine renewable energy project, necessary for the deployment of a network of floating and wave energy generating devices.

The SEM-REV project is funded by several partners including Pays de la Loire region, French government, and the Department of Loire-Atlantique.

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Image: SEM-REV/Illustration