WAVEGEM Hybrid Platform Takes Off for SEM-REV Trials

GEPS Techno’s hybrid WAVEGEM platform, combining solar and wave energy, has left the shipyard in Saint-Nazaire for sea trials at SEM-REV site in France.

The SEM-REV open ocean test site off western France, is operated by Centrale Nantes and co-financed by Pays de la Loire region.

Officially inaugurated in December last year, the 150kW wave energy prototype – developed by the French company GEPS Techno – is built as part of Integrated Harvesting Energy System (IHES) project.

The IHES prototype, whose development was supported by the EU’s FORESEA program, will at SEM-REV join the first offshore wind turbine installed in France – the Floatgen – for an 18-month trial period as the last step before the hybrid clean energy technology is placed on the market, according to the developers.

Born from the collaborative work, led by GEPS Techno, the project brings together several companies including Chantiers de l’Atlantique, Blue Solutions, SNEF, as well as academic partners Centrale Nantes, Ifremer and ICAM, with the support from the Pays de la Loire region and BPI.

This type of platform is intended for oil and gas, marine renewable energy, mining and aquaculture sectors, GEPS Techno said earlier.

The aim of upcoming trials at SEM-REV is to validate the performance of the technology as it represents one of the technological bricks in GEPS Techno’s M-Liner project which combines several sources of renewable energy including solar, wind, wave and tidal in a single platform that can provide electricity to islands, isolated areas and sites at sea.