Achievements
For more than 10 years, we have been supporting innovative and responsible companies that want to use technology to develop new business models.
Our flexibilty, technology building blocks and expertise enable us to accomplish rapid development cycles for our clients. At the end of each cycle, the possibility of solution integration as a service is a well-proven model that continues to generate interest.
References
Wellhead Monitoring and Control
Client : Subsea 7
Whether for the development of a new marginal field, or to compensate for a lack of adequate power supply to existing cables, local autonomous power source integration capable of providing the necessary power to subsea wellhead instruments and equipment and communicate with the main installation is of key interest to the Oil & Gas industry. Subsea 7 and GEPS Techno are working together on different configurations which can be adapted to different situations.
Improving the Seaworthiness of Offshore Ships and Structures
Client : StabInSea
Since 2016, GEPS Techno has been designing passive stabilisation solutions using its tank test validated digital tools.
In 2022, the StabInSea brand was established to organise this activity. StabInSea assists naval architects and designers of offshore structures in their quest for operability and performance. Improved seagoing behaviour allows acceleration reduction on structures, reduced fuel consumption, enhanced comfort and the ability to operate in unfavourable sea conditions.
Positive-Energy Harbour Wall
Client : Groupe Legendre
As part of its innovation projects, the Legendre Group, a construction company with expertise in civil engineering, called upon GEPS Techno to design an energy production system integrated into a coastal protection structure. The ambition was to reinvent port enclosures. Indeed, the impact of a wave on a seawall creates considerable energy which can be transformed into a directly usable source. The DIKWE project was born. After conclusive tank tests, a 1/4 scale prototype was launched in 2022 at the Ifremer test site in Brest.
Floating Edge Data Centres
Client : DENV-R
The start-up DENV-R’s ambition is to harmonise data centres and the environment by developing the world’s greenest data centre network. DENV-R called upon GEPS Techno to integrate its “Edge” Data Centres onto floating structures designed to reduce their carbon footprint and permit faster deployment closer to users. The first system will be commissioned in June 2024 in Nantes.
Green Hydrogen Production at Sea
Client : Lhyfe
In 2021, the Lhyfe company, a pioneer in green hydrogen production, is calling on GEPS Techno to develop the first green hydrogen production pilot plant at sea. GEPS Techno adapted and deploy its WaveGem laboratory buoy to house the equipment (desalination, electrolyser). For this test, the buoy is connecting to the SEM-REV test site network off Le Croisic (France).The buoy was deployed in June 2023, for a period of several months. This test will open the door to numerous applications: hydrogen ship refuelling, energy storage, etc. It demonstrated the feasibility of producing hydrogen in a totally isolated
Oil Platform Decarbonisation
Client : Confidentiel (Oil&Gas)
In 2021, an oil company wanted to identify a solution to reduce the carbon footprint of one of its offshore production sites powered by a gas engine. The site is remote and cannot be connected to the grid.
The operator therefore called on GEPS Techno to develop a solution to use locally available renewable resources to reduce fossil fuel use.
GEPS is working on the development of a “Smart-Grid” buoy integrating production, storage and control, and connected to the platform by an underwater cable.
Scientific Measurement
Client : Ifremer
In 2015, Ifremer called on GEPS Techno to develop a hybrid solar/wave buoy solution with multiple sensors as part of the SMILE (Système de Mesure Instrumenté Littoral pour l’Environnement\Coastal Instrumented Measurement System for the Environment) project. This buoy provides subsurface temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen content, turbidity and fluorescence measurements every 20 minutes. These data are essential for an assessment of the primary output of the environment, a better understanding of the dynamics of toxic microalgae blooms, and hydrodynamic model calibration.
Increasing Submarine Cable Capacity
Client : Meta
In 2020, the Meta Group (formerly Facebook) outlined its problem to GEPS Techno: power source integration in the path of new generation transoceanic submarine cables (24 fibre pairs).
This technology required an intermediate power source capable of supplying the repeaters in the event of main power supply failure on land.
GEPS has therefore been working on the development of a multi-energy buoy equipped with a storage system and anchored in deep waters.
Autonomous Underwater Robot Recharging
Client : confidentiel (Oil&Gas)
In 2021, an oil company, which was studying the implementation of autonomous inspection robots (AUV) on its subsea installations, approached GEPS Techno because it wanted to be able to recharge the robots and transmit/receive data without any vessel support. The challenge was to limit the cost of long-term missions and to evaluate the relevance of a permanent installation.
GEPS techno is therefore studying a multi-energy buoy solution that powers an underwater docking station.
Birdwatching at sea
Client : Akrocean
In the context of the debate on the impact of offshore wind farms on the ecosystem, developers are looking for dependable methods of observing the environment before, during and after the development of an offshore location. In 2021, Akrocean launched FLYR’SEA, an offshore birdwatching service based on the WaveRuby technical solution developed by GEPS Techno. WaveRuby is an upscaled version of the WavePearl buoy, with an almost doubled output capacity, in order to support radar integration for the detection of small flying objects. The first commissioning occurred in May 2023 at the Eoliennes en Mer Dieppe Le Tréport (EMDT) site.
Offshore Wind Data Collection
Client : Akrocean
GEPS Techno has developed a buoy which can integrate LiDAR, for measuring wind speed above a height of about 200m. The buoy, called WavePearl, supplies energy to the LiDAR from renewable sources (solar + wave). It is stabilised to limit acceleration effects on the equipment, and transmits the data back to land via a 4G or satellite link.
These buoys are now deployed in several seas around the world to assess the wind resource of future offshore wind farms. They are operated by Akrocean, which provides the data to end customers such as Meteo France, Star of the South, TNO, BSH, Energinet, etc.