Leaders in the renewable energy sector tell Euronews Correspondent Denis Loctier how Europe can make better use of its surrounding waters to generate a reliable and sustainable source of electricity.
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 As Europe faces the pressing challenge of transitioning
00:09 to sustainable energy, the ocean remains a vast, clean, yet
00:14 largely untapped power source.
00:16 With its waves and tides covering over 70% of our planet,
00:21 could the ocean be the key to our energy future?
00:24 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:29 [WAVES CRASHING]
00:31 This high-power water pipe right onto the ocean's surface
00:34 off Gran Canaria's coast is part of a new technology designed
00:38 to harness the power of ocean waves.
00:41 Michael Heinrichsen is at the helm of WavePiston,
00:45 a Danish company which has created this prototype
00:48 with support from the European Union.
00:50 The device is undergoing a series
00:52 of tests in real ocean conditions
00:54 and is set to continue for the year.
00:57 The natural movement of the waves
00:58 pushes these underwater plates back and forth,
01:01 pumping seawater into the pipe.
01:04 Then the pressurized water turns a turbine,
01:06 producing an affordable source of clean energy.
01:10 There are a lot of energy in the waves,
01:11 but we have still not been able to, in the world,
01:14 to make something that is competitive compared
01:16 to the other renewable sources.
01:18 Going offshore is difficult, and that's
01:20 why the low-hanging fruit have been getting
01:23 renewable energy onshore.
01:25 Now we're moving offshore, offshore wind is coming,
01:27 floating offshore wind coming, and wave energy
01:29 is also coming now.
01:31 This method is intentionally simple but effective,
01:34 cutting down on costly offshore repairs.
01:37 The seawater, once pumped to land, serves two purposes.
01:40 It's used to generate clean energy
01:42 and can also be turned into fresh water, a massive benefit
01:45 to coastal areas.
01:47 We would like to have the first locations relatively
01:50 close to shore, because then we can go directly
01:52 to shore for the energy conversion.
01:55 And by having this system, as you can see,
01:57 it's under the water, most of the things,
01:59 so you don't spoil the view.
02:00 It's a very unobtrusive system.
02:02 The energy conversion and water desalination components
02:06 are being tested at this offshore research facility,
02:09 a part of PLOCAN, the oceanic platform of the Canary Islands.
02:15 Dennis and Michael were lifted onto the platform by a crane
02:18 to get a closer look.
02:20 Test sites like this are helping to put Europe
02:22 at the forefront of offshore renewable energy generation.
02:26 Here, innovative companies like Wave Piston
02:29 can test their prototypes.
02:30 They have everything they need at hand,
02:32 connection to the power grid, all sorts of instruments
02:35 and sensors to benefit their trials.
02:38 We are having more and more projects,
02:40 not only trying different technologies that
02:44 make the most of the waves, the current,
02:46 or other types of energy generation,
02:49 but also studying, for example, if corrosion
02:52 that occurs here because we are in oceanic conditions
02:56 is affecting the windmills, for example,
02:59 or how the sandstorms that are quite often here
03:02 can affect the efficiency of the equipment.
03:06 The ocean's pretty quiet today, but that's not always the case.
03:10 The offshore power machines need to handle big storms
03:13 without breaking down.
03:14 Wave Piston uses plates made of polypropylene, a material that
03:18 can bend a lot without snapping.
03:21 When the forces or the loads from the waves,
03:24 they get too high, like in storm situations,
03:27 then they bend all the way in, and then the water just
03:30 passes by.
03:31 So it's a passive system that takes care of itself
03:34 and can bend out when it's needed.
03:37 Harnessing the waves is a great way
03:39 to make clean electricity from the ocean,
03:41 but that's not the only method out there.
03:50 Let's head to the French Alps near the city of Grenoble,
03:52 where HydroQuest is using turbines spun by tidal streams
03:56 to turn water flow into electricity.
03:59 This method works best in narrow channels
04:01 where currents are strong, like Alderney Race in Normandy.
04:06 Here, HydroQuest is planning to build the world's first
04:08 powerful tidal farm, a big step towards clean energy that
04:12 is both reliable and predictable.
04:15 We can perfectly model the movements of the Moon
04:18 and the gravitational effects of the sea waves.
04:21 So we know exactly what's happening,
04:22 by averaging the area's area and the shape of the bottom.
04:26 We can predict, ten years in advance,
04:29 the speeds we'll have on site, and therefore the production
04:31 of electricity as a consequence.
04:33 HydroQuest has demonstrated the power of its technology
04:36 in a recent project called TIGER.
04:38 Funded by the EU, it aims to boost tidal stream energy
04:41 in and around the English Channel.
04:44 HydroQuest says its latest turbine design is lighter
04:47 and more environmentally friendly than ever before.
04:50 We think we have a technology that is both efficient,
04:53 robust and very suitable for working in very turbulent flows,
04:56 as is the case in the ocean.
04:58 The pilot farm is a 17.5 megawatt project,
05:01 with seven machines that have been installed online
05:04 on a concession in the middle of the Rablanchard.
05:06 The electricity production is 41 gigawatts per year.
05:09 (MUSIC)
05:12 The powerful ocean waves and tides along Europe's Atlantic
05:19 and North Sea coasts are helping innovators ride the wave
05:22 of Europe's transition to cleaner local energy sources.
05:26 Changes are already visible in some industrial ports
05:29 that are making room for more marine energy projects.
05:32 Over 120 groups in this growing field are represented
05:35 by Ocean Energy Europe.
05:38 Dennis had a chat with Remy Gruet, the head of this network,
05:42 at the Port of Viena do Castelo in Portugal.
05:46 The good news is that we have a lot of sea.
05:48 Europe has one of the largest coastlines in the world.
05:52 We've identified that wave and tidal together can produce
05:55 about 10% of current electricity consumption,
05:58 which might sound small, but it's exactly what hydropower today,
06:01 the big dams on all of the rivers in Europe, are producing.
06:05 A few tidal farms are already up and running
06:08 and now we're seeing the first commercial scale wave energy
06:11 converters, like this device from Core Power Ocean,
06:14 recently shown to withstand fierce storms
06:17 at an offshore test site in Portugal,
06:19 while keeping costs manageable.
06:21 Most of the previous devices failed because they need
06:25 to be built for the worst case scenario.
06:28 So they failed because they are too expensive, too heavy.
06:31 The up and down motion of the buoy is constantly adjusting
06:35 so it can get the most energy out of each wave,
06:37 while ensuring the device stays safe when the waves get really high.
06:43 That concept has allowed us to overcome a lot of the basic issues
06:47 that are connected with wave energy from the beginning,
06:50 starting with survivability, but also using less materials
06:55 to get the same result or even better.
06:58 Composed of fibreglass, the buoys are produced right at the port.
07:03 Then just a simple tugboat is all it takes to bring them out to sea.
07:06 They can also be set up near existing offshore wind farms
07:09 using the same underwater cables.
07:12 With more and more wave and tidal projects getting close
07:15 to commercial use, Europe's coastal economy is on the brink
07:18 of a big change in the coming years.
07:22 It's a future where coastlines become not only a product
07:25 of electricity, but also production of jobs,
07:27 because all of these technologies can be produced locally very easily.
07:31 So, yeah, a mix of wind and solar, tidal, wave, wherever they are,
07:36 and then you have a decarbonised energy system
07:38 that delivers low-cost electricity to the consumer where it needs it.
07:43 The European Union has big plans for wave and tidal energy.
07:47 It plans to ramp it up to an industrial scale by 2030.
07:51 Ocean energy, both abundant and renewable,
07:53 is set to help Europe turn the tide on its power supply.
07:56 [MUSIC PLAYING]