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OES-Environmental distributes metadata forms (questionnaires) to solicit information from developers involved in environmental monitoring around marine renewable energy project sites around the world. This page provides project descriptions, baseline assessment, post-installation monitoring, and links to available data and reports. Content is updated on an annual basis.

Enermar Project

Enermar Project device in water.

Contents

MRE Project Site

Title: Enermar Project
Status:
Operation Ended
Tech Developer:
Ponte di Archimede SpA
Start Date:
End Date:
Info Last Updated:
Contact:
SeaPower scrl
(login for email address)
PRIMRE Link:
Projects Database
Website:
External Link

Details

Device Name:
Kobold
Technology:
Marine Energy, Ocean Current
Technology Subtype:
Bottom-Mounted
Support Structure:
Mooring Lines, Gravity Anchor
Project Scale:
Single Device
Grid Connection:
Non Grid-Connected
Installed Capacity:
50 KW
Country:
Italy
Physical Site:
Open Coast, Constricted Channel, Shallow Channel (<40m), Isolated/Quiet Environment (<80 dB)
Water Depth:
18-25 m

Description

The Kobold turbine is a rotor mounted on a vertical shaft which produces mechanical energy by exploiting marine currents. The system is moored by four anchoring blocks where the water depth is 18-25 m and the expected current velocity is about 2 m/s. The system consists of a buoyant support platform and the patented Kobold turbine. The platform, designed by the Ponte di Archimede Company, houses the gearbox, a 160 kW synchronous generator and the necessary electrical equipment. The Kobold turbine (cross flow rotor, 6 m in diameter, equipped with three blades with a span of 5 m) is placed under the platform. More information is available from this 2007 presentation.

Location

The Enermar Project is located in the Strait of Messina, along the Sicilian coast. At a depth of 18-25 meters, the closest city is Ganzirri, Italy.

Licensing Information

The Enermar prototype was financed by Ponte di Archimede Company, together with a 50% fund paid by the Sicilian Region Administration (Regione Siciliana), in the framework of European Union Structural Funds.

Project Progress

The Enermar Project was installed in 2001. At 2 m/s the power produced was about 25 kW (the design power is 80 kW). The global net efficiency, including electric and mechanical losses, was estimated at about 25%.

The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) has funded this project that was demonstrated at near full-scale from 2004 to 2005.

Papers, Reports, Research Studies

Environmental Monitoring: Enermar Project

ID Phase Stressor & Receptor Design and Methods Results
8209 Baseline Noise

Physical Environment 		Baseline acoustic conditions of the Messina Strait.
Two-day measurements (10-11 July, 2011) at 16 and 30 m with hydrophones. 		Completed
Tables reporting intensity levels with 1/3 of octave frequency resolution and 1/10 of a second time resolution. The low frequency component is the most intense part of the signal and corresponds to the flow noise with frequencies ranging 20-40Hz.
6865 Post-Installation Monitoring Changes in Flow

Physical Environment 		Studies to evaluate the landscape impact of the Kobold prototype in the Strait of Messina.
Semi-quantitative method to model a landscape assessment. 		Completed
The site where the plant is positioned at a distance of about 150 – 200 m from the shore. The results show that the measurement method of the impact on the landscape has been a huge success. In fact, the fuzzy variable representing the impact is 98% below the tolerance threshold.