Hydrokinetic Turbine P154 : ENSTA Bretagne, academic partner to Guinard

A project certified by the Pôle Mer Bretagne-Atlantique

The Guinard Energies hydrokinetic turbine P154 is part of the MegawattBlue® project certified by the Pôle Mer Bretagne-Atlantique and is co-financed by Guinard Energies, the Région Bretagne (Regional Council of Brittany) and European funding FEDER. It aims to create a 2nd generation hydrokinetic turbine: free slewing and with flow acceleration.

Research led by ENSTA Bretagne

From January 2016 to January 2017, a post-doctoral researcher of ENSTA Bretagne worked on a two-part study : a frequency study with added water mass (impact of biofouling on the nozzle vibration) and a study on the effect of accidental impact (for example, a hit from a tree trunk). This work was supervised by Mostapha Tarfaoui and Jean- Yves Pradillon.

It was submerged in the Ria d’Etel to answer the following questions:

• Could the resonance zones experienced limit the lifespan of the hydrokinetic turbine?
• What would be the consequences of an impact (eg tree trunk):deformation, damage, loss of resistance…?

This work entailed a study of the turbine nozzle geometry and the generation of its mesh.  The finite element calculations (digital simulations), were compared with the experimental results (tests run by Guinard Energies).

The first real tests conclusive

The tests carried out at the beginning of this year in the Brest Roadstead, then in the Ria d’Etel are conclusive. The hybrid electricity production system combines hydrokinetic production with solar production and batteries.

ENSTA Bretagne and Marine Renewable Energies (MRE)

ENSTA Bretagne has long been involved in R&D and training in Marine Renewable Energies. Thereby, Jean-Yves Pradillon leads the Specialized Master in Marine Renewable Energies and also teaches this field at the Pôle Mer Bretagne Atlantique.

In research, ENSTA Bretagne supports numerous research projects in the field of MRE. Currently, there are 3 theses directly linked to Marine Renewable Energies being supervised by Pr Mostapha Tarfaoui within the IRDL Laboratory/ ENSTA Bretagne site.

ENSTA Bretagne is also heavily involved in the Institute for Energy Transition of France Energies Marine (FEM). David Thévenet and Christian Jochum, associate professors of ENSTA Bretagne have an active role in this institute. At the same time, ENSTA Bretagne leads or participates in research projects such as INDUSCOL (INstrumentation et Durabilité des Structures multimatériaux COLlées de systèmes EMR or Instrumentation and Durability of Glued Multi-material Structures in MRE systems) in response to FEM projects.