IHCantabria begins physical testing of the “Ships 4 Blue” project

The Ships 4 Blue project “Development of critical technical and economic studies for the analysis of the viability of a new off-shore wind energy generation system by means of a ship propelled by sail and equipped with energy production systems”, belonging to SODERCAN’s R+D+i PROJECTS IN RENEWABLE MARINE ENERGY COOPERATION PROJECT Programme – 2016. The companies of the Calcom group, Bound4Blue and the public bodies Centro Nacional del Hidrógeno and the Instituto de Hidráulica Ambiental de Cantabria are collaborating in this project. It enters the phase of reduced scale tests of the performance of the rigid sail system.

Among the tasks to be carried out for the development of the Project is the execution of reduced scale tests of the performance of the rigid sail system. Given the size of the model of sail to be tested (approximately 4 m high and almost 2 m of rope), it is not possible to carry out these tests using the wind tunnel available, it has been decided to carry out the tests in the field.

Given the characteristics of the facilities of the Delegation of AEMET in Cantabria:

• Location in an area with an excellent exposure to the winds,
• Availability of real time information on wind intensity and direction,
• Existence of current sockets for measurement and control electronics,
• Presence of a close coat for the protection of the control electronics during the tests,
• Garage availability for storage of the heaviest equipment between campaigns

It was requested and obtained the approval for the installation of the test sail in the farm of the Delegation of AEMET in Cueto. The installation of the test sail was carried out on February 4, 2019 and the tests will be carried out when the meteorological conditions are adequate.