SAEMar Project

SAEMar Project

 

The main objective of the project is to create a methodology for the reliable design (level II or III) of the system formed by the mooring line-anchor-soil of Floating Ocean Energy Platforms (FOEP).

To achieve this objective, the project will develop specific methodologies for the selection, analysis and design of FOEP's anchoring systems, both in simple arrangements and in a farm configuration for obtaining renewable energy, for example: wind, waves or ocean currents.

 

This project is funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) under the National R & D Plan 2008-2011, Sub-Project of Fundamental Research. It has a budget of € 811,000 being funded in part by the MICINN (420,000 €) and the execution time of the plan is three years, beginning officially in January 2011.

 

CONSORTIUM

 

COORDINATOR: Centro Tecnologico de Componentes (CTC)
University of Cantabria:

• Instituto de Hidráulica Ambiental http://www.ihcantabria.com/WebIH/es/
• Grupo de Geotecnia http://www.unican.es/Departamentos/dcitym/informacion_general/Geotecnia.htm

University of A Coruña:
• Grupo Integrado de Ingeniería http://www.gii.udc.es/

PROJECT´S STRUCTURE. SUBPROJECTS´ SCHEME

 

The project is structured into three different subprojects, each of them lead by a different entity. In the following figure a schematic representation of the subprojects is shown:

 

The subproject 1 « Methodologies to select and design the anchoring system in Floating Ocean Energy Platforms (FOEP)», will be implemented by the Technological Centre of Components (CTC), is conceived primarily as a result of integrating the other subprojects, incorporating the tasks of generating the combinations of platform-mooring-anchor-soil and the selection of the alternatives to be studied and analyzed along the development of the Coordinated Project.
The general objective of this subproject is to establish the general and basic project criteria, specifying the different combinations of the FOEP, the moorings and anchors and soil typologies; and the design requirements for the anchoring system.

The subproject 2 « Hydrodynamics and Geotechnics of FOEP mooring and anchoring systems », which will be implemented by the Environmental Hydraulics Institute (IH Cantabria) and the Geotechnical Group, both from the University of Cantabria, has the general objective to develop methodologies to characterize the statistical properties, both short-and long-term, of the FOEP mooring forces and anchor-soil strengths, as the fundamental basis for the anchor design.

The subproject 3 « Life cycle and integration of FOEP mooring and anchoring system », which will be implemented by the Offshore Technology Group and the Engineering Design Group (University of A Coruña), has been proposed to cover the block work on the mooring system design and integration into the FOEP. Thus this subproject will develop initial configurations to be studied in the SP2. Subsequently, integrating the results of the remaining subprojects, it will perform the final design of the system and considering the life cycle of the system and the necessary considerations for installation.