Les missions du poste
Établissement : Nantes Université École doctorale : École doctorale Mathématiques et Sciences et Technologies du numérique, de l'Information et de la Communication Laboratoire de recherche : INSTITUT DE RECHERCHE EN ENERGIE ELECTRIQUE DE NANTES ATLANTIQUE Direction de la thèse : Salvy BOURGUET Date limite de candidature : 2026-07-17T00:00:00 The integration of wind energy into electrical systems have been at the centre of numerous projects. As the size of the offshore wind farms increases, some issues arise regarding the mutualisation of such sites in terms of services. Moreover, the offshore sites are presently producing electricity with cables to onshore grids, but in a near future, they will be used in larger systems producing hydrogen, ammonia or e-fuels for various applications. Energy islands refer to systems located in artificial offshore structures or natural islands that serve as a point of connection for offshore energy and facilitate the interconnection of those assets to onshore grids. They can also enable the incorporation of additional assets, such as energy storage and power-to-x technologies . The corresponding scientific challenges are yet identified. Regarding the hydrogen production, there is a need for a global study and comparison on needed infrastructures, would they be newly built or reinforced. The operational performances of such production sites are also subject to strong uncertainties, which is a key aspect in the sizing studies. Regarding the uncertainties, the main issues concern the uncertainties and the variability of the wind energy production and the unbalances in the electrical network that could be generated by these uncertainties. In fact, the uncertainties have to be considered in the design, sizing and control of the offshore farms via robust optimization methods. Regarding the reliability of such sites, the main issues come from faults and their consequences, the management of connection with the onshore grid, and the interactions due to control issues inside the farm.
Another major concern is related to the design and planning. Research gaps still exist in the energy island application case, the general architecture and its placement have to be optimized with a concern for future evolutions. Considering the environmental and installation constraints for such sites, an effort on interoperability is needed, i.e. on the study of operating modes, the components and the grid integration restrictions. This also includes the integration of ageing models and of degradation of the performances for the components (electrolysers, batteries) in such a complex and severe environment (corrosion, weather conditions...).
Voir sujet joint
1 - Develop a decision tool for the design and energy management of offshore wind farms coupled with a power-to-X application case. The energy island concept is studied in order to provide hydrogen, ammonia or e-fuels for various applications. 2 - The optimized designs will take into account ageing effects and the degradation of the performances of its parts. The influence of these degradations on the electrolysers, batteries and cables is a driver for the global performances of the offshore sites. 3 - Offshore production for H2 applications (wind farms and energy islands). The main idea is to compare designs for the production of hydrogen for onshore applications (based on pipelines or ship transportation to shore) and energy islands converting electricity into e-fuels for a more decarbonised maritime transportation sector. This will mean a contribution to green corridors d evelopments, i.e. structures that help the constitution of a route between two or more ports where zero-emission shipping solutions exist. The possible architectures will be either decentralised or centralised , and will include uncertainties regarding the demand for such final products, the production aspects, the cost of such systems and the availability of the designed energy islands. 4 - An effort will be made on the key performance indicators for such systems. This means a multi-criteria evaluation and trade off, mainly based on technical performances (reliability, efficiency, maintenance), economic aspects (business models to be specified, general costs, governance, risk management), environmental aspects (pollutants, use of rare resources, biodiversity) and finally social aspects (legal, regulations, acceptability). The partners of the ORACLE Labex will be solicited for these aspects.