The ocean, a new energy source?

The Wavepi partnership project launched last September by Communauté Pays Basque was presented at Seanergy, an International Fair for Renewable Marine Energies. It provided an opportunity to focus on progress made with Marie Zion, the science facilitator. 

Faced with climate urgency, drastically reducing our production of fossil fuels, and replacing them with green energies are matters of crucial importance. By 2050, the Pays Basque Climate Plan launched by Communauté Pays Basque has committed to covering 100% of the region’s energy needs by producing renewable energies.

Aiming for renewable energies

To achieve this ambitious target, Communauté Pays Basque is investing in innovation to support the development of alternative low carbon solutions, which will make up the energy mix of tomorrow. With support from the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, Communauté Pays Basque has been inspired by the region’s proximity to the sea, which encourages a blue economy, launching a pioneering R&D programme in France, Wavepi (Wave Energy Pilot Site). It will aim to analyse the potential for harnessing wave energy to produce renewable electricity that can be injected directly into the network and used to partly meet the needs of the territory.

First introduced at the Seanergy Fair in Nantes last September, the Wavepi project was hailed by attending industrial players, project developers, and local authorities.

Wavepi: investigating the field of possibilities

“Our approach is unprecedented because it comes from a territory that is fully appropriating the subject of renewable marine energies with a global vision of challenges and impacts. The project owner is Communauté Pays Basque and the programme’s focus is public interest,” said Marie Zion, science facilitator for the Wavepi project. About twenty factors are taken into consideration to study the development of a virtuous chain of wave energy in the Pays Basque. Amongst them were environmental factors to preserve marine biodiversity, technical factors for determining the mechanism that is the most suited to the territory, and human factors that will not impact the work of fishing boats or nautical activities such as surfing.

Launched in 2019 for three years, the programme’s key word is consultation, as it will bring together seven actors for an innovative partnership: Rivages Pro Tech (Suez), ATZI, Centre de la mer in Biarritz, creocean, Énergie de la Lune, Ship As a Service, and Surfrider Fondation Europe

A life-sized test

The first stage of the Wavepi project, which will study the feasibility conditions of a wave-powered site, identified an area in the Pays Basque that would be favourable to experimentations off the coast of Anglet and Biarritz, 9 km from the coastline and 50 to 60 metres deep. Data compiled over the course of a year will analyse the productivity potential of wave energy and measure its impacts. “The current pilot project will support decision-making. It will contribute to energy transition in the Pays Basque, and to other local authorities who are interested in developing a promising sector,” said Marie Zion