Description
The R&D&I Platform in Marine Energies of Catalonia (PLEMCAT), led by the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC) and supported by the Generalitat of Catalunya through the Institut Català d’Energia (ICAEN), will be a unique infrastructure for developing pioneering and innovative projects for the development of floating offshore wind and other marine energies in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as related sciences and technologies.
The Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC) is a research center in energy, which is part of the CERCA system, and has the TECNIO accreditation. IREC is recognized as a reference research center in the field of energy at an international level. Its participation in PLEMCAT demonstrates its commitment to the development of innovative and sustainable solutions to address the energy challenges of the future.
To complete the support of the Generalitat de Catalunya, PLEMCAT applies for grants in the “RENMARINAS DEMOS” call of the Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico together with the IDAE, in Subprogram 1 focused on R&D&I platforms. In addition, the achievement and implementation of this infrastructure, before the deadlines indicated in the call, also depends on obtaining all corresponding and necessary administrative authorizations.
GOALS
The objective of PLEMCAT is to position the R&D&I sector of Catalonia as a leader in floating wind power and marine sciences and technologies among Mediterranean countries. PLEMCAT will provide a floating platform in the Mediterranean Sea as a test laboratory for the advancement and validation of floating wind power, marine energy and other related technical activities.
The aim of PLEMCAT is to facilitate research in all stages of the development of a floating offshore wind power system and other energy technologies in a marine environment, including the development of advanced simulation models, advanced monitoring, digital twins and control, operation and maintenance through ROV (remotely operated vehicle), climate data, and design of new mooring systems and floats.
EVALUATION AND TESTING ZONES
PLEMCAT will offer a floating platform in the Mediterranean Sea as a testing laboratory for different components, thematic areas, and related technical activities to advance and validate floating wind energy, marine energies, and monitor the marine ecosystem for environmental, climate, and biodiversity studies.
The platform will include different zones at sea for the validation of these activities and tests:
i) Zone for the evaluation of materials and components to understand and identify their behaviour in real marine conditions, and an area for other R&D&I activities;
ii) Test zone for prototypes of marine energy generation technologies with positions up to 18 MW;
iii) Validation zone for pre-commercial wind generation technologies with long-term permanence.
DEVELOPMENT PHASES AND LOCATION
PLEMCAT will have an underground evacuation line and will be located within the area marked as LEBA II by the Levantine-Balearic POEM, in the Gulf of Roses. It will be located at a distance of 16-24 km from the north coast of Catalonia and will be connected through a 66 kV submarine power evacuation line to handle the energy generated during tests.
It is planned that PLEMCAT activities will be developed in two phases covering all ranges of R&D&I activities from TRL3 to TRL9: The first phase will focus on all activities related to prototype testing, components and other actions. In a second phase, the area for pre-commercial systems will be enabled, thus covering the entire range of research and development activities from the laboratory to the market. In this context, the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research is studying the dissemination of the possibilities and services that PLEMCAT can offer to all interested parties.
In the second phase, the competent authority for the management of PLEMCAT will approve and publish the requirements and conditions to regulate the use of the platform’s capabilities and the selection process of pre-commercial systems, based on the regulations determined by the Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico.
The PLEMCAT platform aims to contribute to the advancement and validation of prototypes that are currently in a scale of 1-5 MW, allowing the testing of turbines (or other generation systems) up to 18 MW, as well as in related technologies and processes, including dynamic cables, autonomous robots for O&M or new materials; in addition, it aims to become an observatory of climate change, biodiversity and environmental monitoring of the Mediterranean Sea. In this way, PLEMCAT will cover research in all phases and fields that impact the development of a floating marine wind system or other marine energies, including the development of advanced simulation models, advanced monitoring, digital twins and control, operation and maintenance through ROV (remotely operated vehicle), climate data and the design of new fixation and floatation systems.
In its initial phase, and as a first action, PLEMCAT will be presented by the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research as an R&D&I project in subprogram 1, ” Plataformas de ensayo para renovables marinas por organismos de investigación ” in the call for proposals of the l’Instituto para la Diversificación y Ahorro de la Energía (IDAE) for the granting of aid to investment in pilot projects and testing platforms and port infrastructures for marine renewables in the framework of the ” Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia (1ª Convocatoria. Programa RENMARINAS DEMOS)” of the Ministerio para la para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico.
EXPECTED TIMELINE
The following forecast schedule shows the first phase of the project:
| Tasks | T4/ 2022 | T1/ 2023 | T2/ 2023 | T3/ 2023 | T4/ 2023 | T1/ 2024 | T2/ 2024 | T3/ 2024 | T4/ 2024 | T1/ 2025 | T2/ 2025 | T3/ 2025 | T4/ 2025 | T1/ 2026 |
| Authorization and permits application | ||||||||||||||
| Authorization and permits resolution | ||||||||||||||
| RENMARINAS DEMOS request | ||||||||||||||
| RENMARINAS DEMOS resolution and acceptance | ||||||||||||||
| Tenders phase | ||||||||||||||
| Construction and installation | ||||||||||||||
| Start of activities |
TECHNICAL CRITERIA OF THE PLEMCAT PLATFORM
PLEMCAT technical score
| Concept | Characteristics | Max. Points | |
| Prototype power | MW | Max 15MW | 30 |
| Output voltage | kV | Design: 66kV | 10 |
| Test duration | years | Time:>=2 years | 10 |
| Prototype height | m | Max 260m | 10 |
| Anchoring system radius | m | To check | 10 |
| Prototype COST estimation | €/MWh | Average costs | 20 |
| GWP estimation | grCO2/MWh | Average value | 20 |
| Financing | YES/NO | 20 | |
| Maturity level | Relative to size | 20 | |
| Pre-certifications | YES/NO | 10 | |
| Territorial impact of the value chain | YES/NO | 10 | |
| Open data | YES/NO | 10 | |
| Monitoring for climate and marine environment data | YES/NO | 10 | |
| CO-USES considerations | YES/NO | 10 | |
| MAX points | 200 |
| Documentation and requirements |
|---|
| Signed confidential agreement. |
| Project report: – Technical pre-project: plans, technical data. – Environmental impact study. Permissions applied and status – Technical-economic studies about the project impact. |
| Signed letter of expression of interest. |
GENERIC EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
Generic Expression of Interest
This expression of interest in the use of the capabilities of the future PLEMCAT platform is open to any public or private entity in the R&D&i system.
Those interested in using the capabilities of the future R&D&I Platform in Marine Energies of Catalonia, PLEMCAT, must complete the form available in this section and provide, regarding the R&D&i actions or projects to be carried out, a confidentiality agreement (following the model available in this link) signed by the corresponding legal representative and a letter of expression of interest (in free format) signed by the corresponding legal representative, to which a technical descriptive report must be attached, which exposes, with the greatest possible level of detail, the content of their project and how it could fit with PLEMCAT.
To ensure timely and proper analysis, interested individuals must provide all the required documentation outlined in the previous section. The deadline for submitting Expression of Interest for Floating Marine Energies is March 10, 2023, and for the Generic Expression of Interest is March 17, 2023, so that it can be analysed in a timely and in due form.
This information will be treated with total confidentiality and will serve the competent authority for the management of PLEMCAT (PLEMCAT Commission of IREC) to, in case the PLEMCAT platform is put into operation, and it has the capabilities of the platform, consider if they can become eligible candidates to use PLEMCAT.
Generic Expression of Interest FORM
We remind those interested must provide all the documentation indicated in the previous section, at the latest before March 17, 2023, so that it can be analysed in a timely and in due form.
EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FOR FLOATING MARINE ENERGIES
Expression of Interest for Floating Marine Energies
Those interested in using the capacities of the future R&D&I Platform for Marine Energies in Catalonia, PLEMCAT, will have to fill out the form available in this section and provide, regarding the R&D&I actions or projects to be carried out, a confidentiality agreement (following the model available in this link) signed by the corresponding legal representative and a letter of expression of interest (in a free format) signed by the corresponding legal representative, to which a descriptive technical report must be attached, in which the content of their project is explained in as much detail as possible, the estimated execution schedule, their level of maturity (including, where applicable, the stage of processing in which they are) and how it could fit in with PLEMCAT.
This information will be treated with complete confidentiality and will serve the competent authority for the management of PLEMCAT (PLEMCAT Commission of IREC) to evaluate and provisionally classify the received actions or proposals, in accordance with the criteria published in this section. If the interested party has all the necessary permissions and authorisations for their action or proposal, and if the PLEMCAT platform is put into operation and has sufficient evacuation capacity, the PLEMCAT Commission of IREC will indicate whether they may become eligible candidates to use PLEMCAT, once the corresponding process has been completed in accordance with the final classification resolution issued by the PLEMCAT Commission of IREC.
The schedule for the start of the platform is conditioned by the “RENMARINAS DEMOS” call from the Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico, together with IDAE, in its Subprogramme 1, for which PLEMCAT, as an R&D&I platform, is a candidate for grants. It is reported that the achievement and start of this infrastructure, PLEMCAT, is subject to and conditioned upon obtaining the subsidies from Subprogramme 1 of the aforementioned call for R&D&I platforms and the support of the Generalitat de Catalunya, as well as the firm obtaining of all corresponding administrative authorisations that may be necessary.
In parallel with the execution of the works and installation of the PLEMCAT infrastructure, initially planned for the second half of 2025, in case that all the aforementioned conditions are met, the competent authority for the management of PLEMCAT will publish on this website the definitive criteria and requirements for regulating the use and operation of PLEMCAT and the selection procedure for the actions or projects that, having all the necessary permissions and authorisations, may be users of PLEMCAT and make use of the platform’s capacities available at that time.
Interested parties who are applicants in Subprogramme 3 and/or Subprogramme 4 of the “RENMARINAS DEMOS” grant call, in compliance with the requirements set out in the aforementioned call, must fill out the form available at this link, expressly stating that they are applicants in Subprogramme 3 and/or Subprogramme 4, and provide all the documentation indicated in the first section of this text, at the latest before 10 March 2023, so that it can be analysed in a timely manner, and obtain a response from IREC no later than 17 March 2023, in accordance with the requirements of the “RENMARINAS DEMOS” call.
Expression of interest for Floating Marine Energies FORM
We remind you that the deadline to receive the required information is March 10, 2023, in order to be able to analyse it and provide a response before March 17, 2023.
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PROVISIONAL RESOLUTION OF PROPOSALS
Resolution related to the Manifestation for Floating Marine Energies
In accordance with good governance and best practices, in this section, IREC will publish the provisional resolution issued by the PLEMCAT Commission of IREC with the provisional classification obtained for the received actions or proposals.
This provisional resolution issued by the PLEMCAT Commission of IREC with the final classification will be subject to compliance and validation of the administrative and financial requirements required for the classified interested parties’ actions or proposals, as well as the obtaining of subsidies from the Subprogram 1 of the mentioned call dedicated to R&D&I platforms, the support of the Generalitat de Catalunya, as well as the firm obtaining of all necessary corresponding administrative authorizations.
| Submit reference | Id. | No. Subprogram/ Nosubprogram | Score | Ranking order |
| 2 | 26590-2 | NO | 174.5 | 1 |
| 5/02 | 26590-5 | 3 | 170 | 2 |
| 1 | 26590-1 | 3 | 164.5 | 3 |
| 6 | 26590-6 | NO | 159.5 | 4 |
| 5/01 | 26590-5 | 3 | 157 | 5 |
| 3 | 26590-3 | 4 | 154.5 | 6 |
| 7 | 26590-7 | 3 | 107 | 7 |
| 2 | 26131-2 | NO | 0 | Submitted outside the time |
*Assignment of priority order linked to the different subprograms of the RENMANIRAS DEMOS call.
For more details, visit the link of the document “Provisional resolution of eligible candidates for the future PLEMCAT Platform“.
Appeal against the resolution to the Manifestation for Floating Marine Energies
Against the provisional resolution issued by the PLEMCAT Commission of IREC, an appeal may be lodged within a maximum period of 15 calendar days from the day following its publication. The complaint must be submitted via email to plemcat@irec.cat, using an “Exposition-Request” form addressed to IREC.
The resolution of the complaint by the PLEMCAT Commission of IREC will issue and notify the decision of the appeal, which will be duly justified, through the website https://www.irec.cat/research/strategic-initiatives/plemcat/ within a maximum period of 3 working days, starting from the day after the deadline for filing the complaint.
CONTACT
For any other inquiries related to PLEMCAT, please contact us through this form:
