French start-up Geodunes has won a tender launched by grid provider RTE and the Dunkerque Urban Community to provide alternative uses at the offshore substation for the up to 600WM Dunkirk wind farm.
Geodunes will install a sensor that will measure various data, such as sea currents and swell, that will then be made available on an open data platform.
The company received the award, which also inclued €20,000, at the Seanergy 2019 conference and trade fair in Dunkirk.
Geodunes’ Adrien Carter said: “We just thought it would have been a shame not to use that excellent offshore location for a sensor like ours.”
The Hybsea project, put together by French companies Sofresid, PersEE and McPhy, came in second place and plans to produce hydrogen at the substation.
RTE will finance Hybsea’s feasibility studies.
A special ‘Art and Energy’ prize was awarded to Villeneuve d’Ascq-based Point Triiiple.
The company’s Ventalion device will transform wind data into a musical symphony.
The organisers also selected two student-led projects. Eye Five from Paris-based engineering school ISEP aims to clean sea water using submarine drones through its Cleanwhale project.
LG from the ESME-Sudria engineering school in Paris intends to cultivate algae at the substation.
RTE management board chairman Francois Brottes said: “We received applications from 40 countries across all five continents.”
In total, 65 companies and 167 student teams participated in the call for proposals that was launched in January.
The Dunkirk wind farm in the English Channel is scheduled for commissioning in 2022.
The French government is expected to select a successful bidder to develop the project in the coming weeks.