Tag: renewable energy

Bureau Veritas has issued its first Approval in Principle for an Ocean Thermal Energy Converter (OTEC). The approval applies to a 1MW plant developed by the Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering (KRISO) which will be built for installation off the coast of South Tarawa, Republic of Kiribati, in the South Pacific Ocean.

  Northwest Energy Innovations (NWEI) has successfully deployed its Azura wave energy device at the United States Navy’s Wave Energy Test Site (WETS) near Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii. The device will be deployed for 12 months of grid-connected testing as part of a rigorous program to commercialize the Azura technology. “As the first grid connected wave energy device in the U.S. that will be tested and validated by an independent party, this deployment marks a major milestone for our team and the marine renewable energy industry,” said NWEI Founder and CEO Steve Kopf. “A special thanks to Sea Engineering, our deployment contractor, for their tireless efforts in completing the assembly, launch and installation of the Azura at WETS,” Kopf added. Deployment and testing of the Azura at WETS is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Navy, and the University of Hawaii. The University of Hawaii is responsible for data collection, analysis and reporting as a means of independently validating the technology performance. The data will also be delivered to the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Navy for their use in ongoing efforts to validate wave energy technology and advance the marine renewable energy industry. In ...

  International classification society and certification group Bureau Veritas has published a set of guidelines, NI 603, intended to help the development of current and tidal turbines. The guidelines are backed by a separate guide to certification for marine renewable energy devices including tidal turbines, wave energy converters and ocean thermal energy conversion. Philippe Donche-Gay, Executive Vice-President and Head of the Marine & Offshore Division of Bureau Veritas says, “Marine renewable energy offers promising sources of clean energy. Emerging technologies that generate electricity by harnessing the power of tidal streams, waves and temperature gradients, are moving from research phase to commercial use. We think that over the next five to ten years, the number of tidal turbines in particular is set to multiply. There is a clear need for standards and certification in this fast-developing field.” To ensure the commercial viability of their projects, designers and operators involved inmarine energy must be able to demonstrate their technologies are safe and offer high quality and reliability. This can be complex in an emerging sector with no real track record, and where international standards are still under development.  NI 603 Current and Tidal Turbines sets down guidelines applicable to current and tidal ...

Significant growth in the global middle class, expansion of emerging economies and an additional 2 billion people in the world will contribute to a 35 percent increase in energy demand by 2040, according to a new report released by ExxonMobil. As demand increases, the world will continue to become more efficient in its energy use, according to the 2015 Outlook for Energy: A View to 2040. Without efficiency gains across economies worldwide, energy demand from 2010 to 2040 would be headed toward a 140 percent increase instead of the 35 percent forecast in the report. ExxonMobil’s Outlook for Energy projects that carbon-based fuels will continue to meet about three quarters of global energy needs through 2040, which is consistent with all credible projections, including those made by the International Energy Agency. The outlook shows a shift toward lower-carbon fuels in the coming decades that, in combination with efficiency gains, will lead to a gradual decline in energyrelated carbon dioxide emissions. Wind, solar and biofuels are expected to be the fastest-growing energy sources, increasing about 6 percent a year on average through 2040, when they will be approaching 4 percent of global energy demand. Renewables in total will account for about ...

ClassNK has announced the establishment of a new Renewable Energy Department. This new department which began operations on 1 October 2014 will oversee a diverse range of activities related to renewable energy, including audits and certification of new technologies. While ClassNK has previously provided certification for wind turbines, vast technological advances have made it possible to practically harness the power of alternative energy sources such as wave power, tidal power, and ocean thermal energy conversion. Given the enormous potential of the ocean as a source of energy and the ever-increasing demand for cleaner energy to mitigate climate change, there is a growing need from the industry for high-quality technical services that can support the practical development of new renewable energy technologies. ClassNK established the Renewable Energy Department to support these efforts and ensure the safe operation of renewable energy facilities offshore. The new department will provide technical and certification services for a wide variety of renewable energy production facilities, ensuring that ClassNK's high certification standards contribute to their safe development and practical application. Activities previously carried out by the ClassNK Wind Turbine Division will now be carried out by the Renewable Energy Department. The operations of the Renewable Energy Department ...