Marine energy - a new revolution is emerging and is being developed by the European Union (EU). This is an endless renewable energy source, helping humanity soon maintain the temperature increase below 2°C. Vietnam Energy Magazine experts update this topic to help us refer and apply it, especially when Vietnam's islands and islands are receiving special attention from domestic and foreign public opinion.
A few words about marine energy:
According to the Open Encyclopedia (EWO): Marine energy, sometimes also called ocean energy, or hydrokinetic energy, is the type of energy created by ocean waves, tides, and ocean currents. , salinity and ocean temperature differences. The movement of water in the ocean creates a huge reserve of kinetic energy, also known as motion energy.
The term ocean energy (Ocean energy, Marine energy, or marine power) includes both wave energy and tidal energy, which is energy derived from the kinetic energy of large volumes of moving water. Offshore wind power is not a form of marine power, as wind power originates from the wind, even though the wind turbines are located on water.
About 20.000 – 80.000 TWh of electricity can be generated each year, from Earth's oceans, based on changes in temperature, salt concentration, or the movement of tides, ocean currents, ocean waves and waves. alcohol. In addition, there have been many pilot projects installing wind and solar energy harvesting systems at sea.
According to the IEA-OES annual report: Total potential in the world includes: Tidal energy > 300 TWh, ocean current energy > 800 TWh, osmotic energy due to salinity difference 2.000 TWh, marine thermal energy due to temperature variations of 10.000 TWh and ocean wave energy of 8.000 - 80.000 TWh.
The potential of wave energy is truly amazing, second only to wind energy. Harnessing that energy, however, is complex, mainly because of the harsh environments in which the wave energy converters operate and how dispersed the energy is.
Marine energy revolution in the EU:
Ocean Energy Europe (OEE), a network of more than 120 organizations, is currently engaged in discussions on how to implement this new sustainable energy industry. The recently held COP28 also reinforced this – as attendees agreed, at least 50% of energy production needs to come from sustainable sources by 2030.
Transitioning Europe's energy system from fossil fuels to domestic renewable energy sources is more important than ever, especially in the wake of the war taking place in Ukraine. Europe has been firmly reminded that: Indigenous renewable energy sources are the best way to supply Europeans at affordable prices.
Europe has always been at the forefront of developing renewable energy technology and today, wind and solar are the cheapest forms of electricity generation in this region. In fact, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA): Building a new onshore wind or solar power plant is currently cheaper than operating existing fossil fuel plants. . However, Europe cannot rely solely on wind and solar to achieve a 100% stable renewable energy mix. It will need support from other advanced renewable technologies that can reliably produce energy at times of need. That's where marine energy, simply put, the ocean is the largest untapped source of renewable energy.
By harnessing the power of tides and waves, marine energy could generate 100 GW in European waters by 2050 – or 10% of the region's current electricity needs.
Tidal energy is completely predictable decades in advance and is completely independent of weather conditions, as it depends only on the rise and fall of the tides. This long-term predictability is invaluable for balancing power grids built around variable solar and wind generation. Wave energy devices can be installed at offshore wind farms, as there is a lot of unused space between giant wind turbines. Wind creates waves, but waves will continue to appear for many hours after the wind stops – which means that wave power devices will continue to operate long after the wind turbine stops operating.
The EU has always strongly supported marine energy research and innovation as it has done with wind and solar power. Just last year, the EU demonstrated its political support by naming marine energy an EU strategic technology in the Net zero Industry Act, setting a new innovative renewable energy target in The revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED III) and its specific wave, as well as tidal energy deployment targets in its offshore renewable energy strategy.
Over the past year, significant progress has been made in marine energy and its enormous potential. At the national level, governments are strengthening their ability to find markets and enable ocean energy to take decisive steps towards commercialization. Thanks to new support, the sector is expanding in key ways, with more than 100 MW of installed capacity planned for deployment in the coming years.
Wave energy development remains largely funded, and this long-term support has made Europe a world leader in wave energy technology. However, interest in wave energy production has gone beyond European borders in the past few years and countries such as China and the United States are investing heavily in this field.
For Europe to retain its leadership position and wave energy to truly take off, national governments need to step in and provide a long-term vision of the market with deployment targets, as well as support programs. Revenue subsidies are clearly defined.
Most current projects in the EU are using full-scale prototypes and are rapidly progressing towards the first pilot farms. More than 8 MW of wave energy is expected to be deployed in the coming years at several wave farms. On top of that, the Horizon Europe funding program will announce the winners of the wave energy pilot farm race later this year, which will help bring even more wave energy devices into European waters.
Pilot projects in the EU:
Both France and the UK have excellent tidal energy resources – some of the best in the world – and have now increased their development, supporting their national tidal industries. .
In the UK, the Contract for Difference (CfD) scheme provides revenue support for renewable energy projects. In 2023, 53 MW of tidal energy capacity, divided among 11 projects was supported and expected to be deployed between 2026 and 2028. Of these, the MeyGen tidal farm has been in operation for nearly a decade will increase installed capacity up to 50 MW.
In France, the country's government announced support for the FloWatt project - a 17,5 MW tidal farm implemented by technology developer HydroQuest. The French government will provide at least €65 million in direct funding and dedicated revenue support. In addition to this direct support for FloWatt, French President Macron announced a commercial tender for tidal energy in his 2023 national energy strategy update.
Thanks to the Horizon Europe programme, 40 million Euros was recently granted to develop pilot tidal farms in Europe. These are the EURO – TIDES and SEASTAR projects, implemented by Scottish companies Orbital Marine Power and Nova Innovation. EURO – TIDES will deploy 9,6 MW of tidal power, while SEASTAR will install 16 turbines with a total capacity of 4 MW over the next few years. Overall, the tidal sector in Europe is growing stronger than ever.
Two of the leading wave power projects today are the HiWave-5 and Saoirse projects. Both are funded by EU funds – FEDER and the Innovation Fund respectively and will use wave energy technology developed by Sweden's CorPower Ocean. HiWave-5 will install four 4 W wave energy converters in Northern Portugal by 300, the first converter has already been installed. Saoirse will be Ireland's first full-scale wave energy conversion test and demonstration project. A total of 2025 MW of wave energy capacity will be installed off the County Clare coast, powering 5 homes.
The American online technology news site (NAC) has just posted a video about the CorPower Ocean project. Mechanically, this is a fairly standard anchor point absorption type system; The floating air-filled chassis lift wave helps the motion system harvest energy through linear up-down conversion into power-generating rotation.
It's a new phase control technology called WaveSpring that differentiates the generator's giant C4 buoys, which are 19 meters high and 9 meters in diameter, says CorPower Ocean. An internal pneumatic cylinder is pre-tensioned to pull the float down, so in the absence of active control, the float will remain in “flow over” mode no matter how high the waves get. This way of operating creates a safety mechanism in the worst of weather conditions.
The operating principle of the CorPower floating generator can be summarized as follows: The system's full name is CorPower Ocean Wave Energy Converters, or CorPower for short. When wave activity occurs, the C4 buoys begin to undulate at twice the wave amplitude, by adjusting the phase of its motion. This means that it does not rise at the same time as the wave, but lags behind to receive a little more energy to amplify and push it higher. This effect makes a big difference in electricity production. CorPower claims a 300% increase in power generation compared to a similar float without Wavespring phase adjustment.
According to CorPower engineers: Levelized Cost of Energy (LCoE) is expected to be in the range of 33 - 44 USD per MWh (20 GW project). This is a quite competitive price, because wave energy operates quite a lot (24/7) and can fill the gaps when wind and solar cannot provide. However, 20 GW is a lot of buoys (somewhere over 20.000), so it will take some time to get the LCoE down to a manageable level.
Another important wave energy project is Denmark's SEAWORTHY – this is a commercial-scale demonstration project funded by the European Union's Innovation Fund. The demonstration technology integrates a 4,3 MW wind turbine, a 0,8 MW wave energy converter and a hydraulic system on the same floating platform. This project is scheduled for 2028.
Vietnam's potential:
According to research results of the Institute of Sea and Island Research: Vietnam's total wave energy capacity in the year is 212 TWh/year, accounting for nearly 1% of the total global value, reaching 90% of Vietnam's electricity demand. (2022 TWh/year in 230). Particularly, the coastal area from Quang Ngai to Ninh Thuan has the best wave power potential on the Vietnamese coast. Next is the coastal area of Quang Binh - Quang Nam, Binh Thuan - Bac Lieu.
It is an inexhaustible form of energy, does not create waste, does not require high maintenance and is free of input, but ocean waves are almost unpredictable, so the dependence of this type of model on nature is very large. Besides, not every place is suitable to build this energy project. In Vietnam, the issue of research and use of ocean wave energy has not received much attention, but for coastal islands, electricity from ocean waves can become a potential and endless source of energy when the price of electricity increases. from this energy source is competitive.
Energy demand for development is increasing while fossil energy sources are gradually depleted, causing many negative impacts on the environment. Research into the use of new and renewable energy sources is an inevitable trend. including wave energy.
Vietnam is a country with a large sea surface and long coastline, rich in economic and energy potential. Therefore, researching wave energy conversion has many meanings for developing energy stations for coastal areas and islands, providing electricity for signal buoys, anchored ships, and naval bases. .
Để phát huy các tiềm năng năng lượng tái tạo to lớn của vùng biển và các đảo ven bờ Việt Nam, các chuyên gia nhận định: Cần triển khai đồng bộ nhiều giải pháp, trong đó đáng lưu ý là các giải pháp: Xây dựng Luật Năng lượng tái tạo, đầu tư kinh phí để đánh giá tiềm năng các dạng năng lượng tái tạo ở các vùng biển ven bờ, tạo điều kiện khuyến khích các nhà đầu tư thực hiện các dự án sản xuất điện từ nguồn năng lượng tái tạo
Sources: Tạp chí Năng lượng
