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Offshore initiatives seek integration of renewable energies for decarbonization in the pre-salt layer
Coppe/UFRJ (Alberto Luiz Coimbra Institute for Graduate Studies and Engineering Research) and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) have established an agreement for a joint study over the next three years aimed at offshore wind energy projects. One of the projects is innovative in that it integrates wind, solar and wave energy sources for the decarbonization of oil and gas activities in the pre-salt region, located at depths between 500 and 2.500 meters, according to the Terra website.
The second offshore project focuses on investigating floating wind turbines at depths between 60 and 150 meters. The partnership provides for financing of R$ 16 million and will be led by the Renewable Energy Group in the Ocean (Gero), linked to Coppe's Submarine Technology Laboratory (LTS).
Driving innovation in offshore wind energy
Professor Segen Estefen, from the Ocean Engineering Program (PEnO) and coordinator of Gero, explains that the first offshore project seeks floating wind systems that are competitive both in performance as in energy cost. The performance of structures with a high degree of technological maturity and construction methods that increase the competitiveness of floating platforms will be evaluated.
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The offshore projects will have more than 30 researchers from four different Coppe laboratories, who will work in areas such as hydrodynamics, aerodynamics, power control, structural, oceanography, meteorology, optimization and artificial intelligence.
Challenges and future of offshore wind energy
The partnership with CNOOC expands the Subsea Technology Laboratory's existing cooperation with the China University of Petroleum since 2001. The project will also evaluate turbines in intermediate waters in the South, Southeast and Northeast of Brazil, regions with stronger winds.
The second project aims to install hybrid parks that integrate wind, wave and floating solar energy. this proposal it involves a combined analysis of the aerodynamics and hydrodynamics of the turbines, evaluation of the structural behavior and the performance of mooring lines in ultra-deep waters.
Technical challenges and sustainable future
Deploying floating systems in deep water is challenging, especially for depths greater than 2000 meters. Shared mooring analysis emerges as a promising alternative for wind, wave and solar conversion modules. In addition, the project will also consider the use of batteries to stabilize electricity supply due to the intermittent nature of renewable sources.
Professor Milad Shadman, also a Gero researcher, believes that this ambitious project can be a contribution relevant for the decarbonization of oil and gas production in offshore fields, and can be applied in productive areas for more than 25 years. Projects with CNOOC will focus on computer simulations of the systems and, in the third year, experimental tests on reduced models at Coppe's Ocean Technology Laboratory (LabOceano).
