EDP is part of a project to set up a real-time testing centre for marine robots for use in the offshore wind sector on the coast of Viana do Castelo in Portugal.
The Atlantis Test Center will enable the validation of robotic solutions to carry out the assessment and maintenance of offshore wind infrastructure in extreme weather conditions and aims help reduce the levelised cost of energy.
The project – ‘Atlantic Testing Platform for Maritime Robotics: New Frontiers for Inspection and Maintenance of Offshore Energy Infrastructures’ – is led by INESC TEC, with the involvement of EDP and various technology and academic partners.
The three-year €8.5m project will test several autonomous robots under various industrial scenarios.
These scenarios include the assessment of mooring lines, the monitoring of underwater structures or the cleaning of turbines.
As part of the project, the centre will use the 25MW WindFloat Atlantic offshore wind farm off the Portuguese coast to validate and demonstrate robotic applications.
EDP, via the NEW Centre for New Energy Technologies and in close collaboration with Principle Power, will lead the offshore demonstration component.
INESC TEC project coordinator and researcher Andry Maykol said: “The Atlantis Test Center will allow us to quantify the added value of new robotic technology and accelerate their integration into the offshore wind energy sector.
“The project is based on a true symbiosis between the energy and marine-robotics industries.
“This innovation centre will be set up in Viana do Castelo, having a significant strategic relevance for the robotics scientific road map throughout Europe.
“The Atlantis Test Center will be an excellent opportunity for small and medium-sized enterprises to develop technologies that improve the sustainability of the offshore wind energy sector, as they will be able to experimentally evaluate their products and adapt their offer to the needs and expectations of an emerging market.”
Other participants in the project are Teknologian Tutkimuskeskus VTT and ABB from Finland), Principle Power France and ECA Robotics from France, Space Application Services from Belgium, Spain’s IQUA Robotics and Universitat de Girona and RINA Consulting from Italy.
EDP director of R&D Joao Maciel said: “The WindFloat, namely WindFloat Atlantic, is a giant step towards creating new markets for renewable energy, particularly for the wind energy sector.
“The Atlantis project is crucial for the company, since we are investing in one of the central vectors that will decisively contribute to increase the competitiveness of floating offshore wind energy: innovative operation and maintenance, thus creating new and practical options for decarbonising the energy system and society.”