An Alternative Technique for Ultra-high Resolution Bathymetry and Seabed Inspection for Marine Renewables

Mapping Intimacies ◽

10.20944/preprints202007.0615.v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Francisco Gemo Albino Francisco ◽

Jan Sundberg

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

High Resolution ◽

Ocean Energy ◽

Energy Devices ◽

Energy Applications ◽

Marine Renewable Energy ◽

Marine Energy ◽

Dual Beam ◽

Energy Projects ◽

Monitoring Platform

Marine renewable energy technologies have a great potential in supplying clean electricity to millions of people across the globe, if technical and economic conditions are in right. So far, ocean energy projects are commonly started by SMEs or educational institutions with limited budgets. Therefore, any effort to reduce expenses is of great value. One of the areas involving substantial expenses are the inevitable seabed inspection prior to deployment of marine renewable energy device. Detailed seabed inspections can also reduce the risk of associated with deployment of structures on uneven seabed, especially marine renewable energy devices with gravity foundations. By reducing the costs and risks of such surveys prior and during the installation phases, the feasibility of marine renewable energy projects can be more favoured and competitive. In this perspective, this study proposes a cost and time effective technique for seabed surveys. The proposed technique involves the use of high precision and inexpensive sonar systems and underwater optical cameras integrated into a versatile and compact subsea monitoring platform. It also involves simple and practical data acquisition and processing protocols that do not requires hi expertise for operation. The results obtained showed that high resolution bathymetric maps and detailed seabed inspections imagery can be acquired. This study concludes that a simple and inexpensive subsea monitoring platform comprising a multibeam, dual beam and video cameras can be effective for high resolution seabed inspection and bathymetric measurements for marine energy applications.

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A Decision Support Tool for Long-Term Planning of Marine Operations in Ocean Energy Projects

Journal of Marine Science and Engineering ◽

10.3390/jmse9080810 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (8) ◽

pp. 810

Author(s):

Francisco X. Correia da Fonseca ◽

Luís Amaral ◽

Paulo Chainho

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Decision Support ◽

Decision Support Tool ◽

Ocean Energy ◽

Support Tool ◽

Marine Renewable Energy ◽

Marine Energy ◽

Energy Projects ◽

Selection Algorithms ◽

Maritime Infrastructure

Ocean energy is a relevant source of clean renewable energy, and as it is still facing challenges related to its above grid-parity costs, tariffs intended to support in a structured and coherent way are of great relevance and potential impact. The logistics and marine operations required for installing and maintaining these systems are major cost drivers of marine renewable energy projects. Planning the logistics of marine energy projects is a highly complex and intertwined process, and to date, limited advances have been made in the development of decision support tools suitable for ocean energy farm design. The present paper describes the methodology of a novel, opensource, logistic and marine operation planning tool, integrated within DTOceanPlus suite of design tools, and responsible for producing logistic solutions comprised of optimal selections of vessels, port terminals, equipment, as well as operation plans, for ocean energy projects. Infrastructure selection logistic functions were developed to select vessels, ports, and equipment for specific projects. A statistical weather window model was developed to estimate operation delays due to weather. A vessel charter rate modeling approach, based on an in-house vessel database and industry experience, is described in detail. The overall operation assumptions and underlying operating principles of the statistical weather window model, maritime infrastructure selection algorithms, and cost modeling strategies are presented. Tests performed for a case study based a theoretical floating wave energy converter produced results in good agreement with reality.

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A high-resolution hindcast of sea level and 3D currents for marine renewable energy applications: A case study in the Bay of Biscay

Renewable Energy ◽

10.1016/j.renene.2018.11.069 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 134 ◽

pp. 783-795

Author(s):

Helios Chiri ◽

Alba Cid ◽

Ana J. Abascal ◽

Javier García-Alba ◽

Andrés García ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

High Resolution ◽

Sea Level ◽

Bay Of Biscay ◽

Energy Applications ◽

Marine Renewable Energy

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Monitor the Impact of Marine Renewable Energy Devices on Local Environment

Applied Mechanics and Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.448-453.1620 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 448-453 ◽

pp. 1620-1623

Author(s):

Jia Liu ◽

Feng Xu ◽

Xu Dong An ◽

Qiao Zhang ◽

Juan Yang

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Local Environment ◽

Global Scale ◽

Energy Device ◽

Energy Devices ◽

Marine Renewable Energy ◽

Underwater Environment ◽

Marine Energy ◽

Development And Utilization ◽

The Impact

The development and utilization of clean and renewable marine energy sources will be a way for the development of economy. Although on a global scale the advantages of renewable energy are not in doubt, the impacts on the local environment must be carefully considered. The sonar devices could be used to monitor the underwater environment around the marine renewable energy device. In this paper, a Multi-beam Echo Sounder is introduced. And the measured results in a lake are given, which are shown that this sonar could detection the fish effectively.

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Strategic priorities for assessing ecological impacts of marine renewable energy devices in the Pentland Firth (Scotland, UK)

Marine Policy ◽

10.1016/j.marpol.2008.12.013 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 33 (4) ◽

pp. 635-642 ◽

Cited By ~ 55

Author(s):

Mark A. Shields ◽

Lora Jane Dillon ◽

David K. Woolf ◽

Alex T. Ford

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Ecological Impacts ◽

Energy Devices ◽

Marine Renewable Energy

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Synthetic mooring ropes for marine renewable energy applications

Renewable Energy ◽

10.1016/j.renene.2015.03.058 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 83 ◽

pp. 1268-1278 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

S.D. Weller ◽

L. Johanning ◽

P. Davies ◽

S.J. Banfield

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Energy Applications ◽

Marine Renewable Energy

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The Permitting, Licensing and Environmental Compliance Process: Lessons and Experiences within U.S. Marine Renewable Energy

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14165048 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (16) ◽

pp. 5048

Author(s):

Zachary Barr ◽

Jesse Roberts ◽

William Peplinski ◽

Anna West ◽

Sharon Kramer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Clean Energy ◽

Vital Role ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Marine Renewable Energy ◽

Marine Energy ◽

Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽

Practical Experiences ◽

Permitting Process ◽

The U.S

The marine renewable energy (MRE; renewable energy captured from waves, tides, ocean currents, the natural flow of water in rivers, and marine thermal gradients, without building new dams or diversions) industry has a vital role in the U.S. clean energy strategy as we progress to meet U.S. electricity and blue economy needs with renewable, domestic energy sources. However, a thorough assessment of the U.S. marine energy permitting process from the viewpoints of both developers that propose projects and regulators that permit them has not been performed. Sharing practical experiences in this new industry is vital to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the permitting process, identify data and information gaps, develop lessons learned, and advance the industry. This paper is a case study of qualitative findings, lessons learned, and recommendations from guided discussions, workshops, and webinars with both marine renewable energy developers and state and federal regulators that have experience in the permitting process in the U.S.

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Detection of Visual Signatures of Marine Mammals and Fish within Marine Renewable Energy Farms using Multibeam Imaging Sonar

Journal of Marine Science and Engineering ◽

10.3390/jmse7020022 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 22 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Francisco Francisco ◽

Jan Sundberg

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Marine Mammals ◽

Environmental Data ◽

Marine Renewable Energy ◽

Marine Energy ◽

Acoustic Images ◽

Sonar Systems ◽

Sonar Images ◽

Imaging Sonar

Techniques for marine monitoring have been greatly evolved over the past decades, making the acquisition of environmental data safer, more reliable and more efficient. On the other hand, the marine renewable energy sector has introduced dissimilar ways of exploring the oceans. Marine energy is mostly harvested in murky and high energetic places where conventional data acquisition techniques are impractical. This new frontier on marine operations brings the need for finding new techniques for environmental data acquisition, processing and analysis. Modern sonar systems, operating at high frequencies, can acquire detailed images of the underwater environment. Variables such as occurrence, size, class and behavior of a variety of aquatic species of fish, birds, and mammals that coexist within marine energy sites can be monitored using imaging sonar systems. Although sonar images can provide high levels of detail, in most of the cases they are still difficult to decipher. In order to facilitate the classification of targets using sonar images, this study introduces a framework of extracting visual features of marine animals that would serve as unique signatures. The acoustic visibility measure (AVM) is here introduced as technique of identification and classification of targets by comparing the observed size with a standard value. This information can be used to instruct algorithms and protocols in order to automate the identification and classification of underwater targets using imaging sonar systems. Using image processing algorithms embedded in Proviwer4 and FIJI software, this study found that acoustic images can be effectively used to classify cod, harbour and grey seals, and orcas through their size, shape and swimming behavior. The sonar images showed that cod occurred as bright, 0.9 m long, ellipsoidal targets shoaling in groups. Harbour seals occurred as bright torpedo-like fast moving targets, whereas grey seals occurred as bulky-ellipsoidal targets with serpentine movements. Orca or larger marine mammals occurred with relatively low visibility on the acoustic images compared to their body size, which measured between 4 m and 7 m. This framework provide a new window of performing qualitative and quantitative observations of underwater targets, and with further improvements, this method can be useful for environmental studies within marine renewable energy farms and for other purposes.

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Coordinators Overview and Lessons Learned From the Galway Bay Seatrials of the FP7 EU Funded CORES Wave Energy Project

Volume 8: Ocean Renewable Energy ◽

10.1115/omae2013-11123 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Raymond Alcorn ◽

Anthony Lewis ◽

Mark Healy

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Wave Energy ◽

Energy Systems ◽

Project Manager ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Ocean Energy ◽

Renewable Energy Systems ◽

Energy Devices ◽

Ocean Renewable Energy ◽

The Coordinator

The paper discusses the lessons learned from the European Funded Framework 7 Research project Components for Ocean Renewable Energy Systems (CORES) which developed and trialed new components and systems for ocean energy devices. The authors are the coordinator and project manager so the paper will give this overview of the project. This will include detail of the work packages, major achievements, significant impacts, summary results and outcomes of the sea trials.

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