The importance of environmental monitoring to ensure safe and efficient energy production

In recent years, the goal of converting renewable energy to electrical energy for public use has motivated significant marine engineering effort. 

A challenging problem is to create devices that not only survive but work efficiently in very dynamic environments — across a wide range of energy, space and time scales. Knowing the ambient conditions in which these devices operate is a key to their successful use and safe operation.

Together with CMR, Met Office and Polytec, Aanderaa entered into an agreement to develop an optimized wave sensor to be used on buoys that could withstand harsh environmental conditions.

Three buoys equipped with meteorological sensors, currents and wave measurements have been deployed close to the Hywind site during more than a year where waves up to 18m maximum wave height and winds with speed more than 30 m/s have been observed. 

The combination of forecasting models and use of observations have proven their benefit in providing the right information of the environmental conditions to support efficiency and safety of operation.

Emilie Dorgeville has a master of Advanced study, Nearshore and Coastal Oceanography from the Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography. She will talk about the importance of environmental monitoring to ensure safe and efficient energy production at Energy Lab on Tuesday November 13.

The meeting will be held in the Helland-Hansen meeting room at the Geophysical Institute, Allegaten 70, from 12:15 to 13:00 (we open the doors at 12:00). The meeting is free and open for all interested, so bring your lunch and join for an interesting presentation and discussion.