April 30, 2021 :
Austral Electronics, which has been selected by the LHEEA laboratory of the Ecole Centrale de Nantes and the CNRS for the ‘droning’ and ‘data collection’ of a first autonomous sailboat-hydrofoil demonstrator, begins with its client the qualification of this proof of concept.
The LHEEA laboratory of the Ecole Centrale de Nantes and the CNRS is one of the world leaders in research on marine renewable energy. It has been working since 2016 on the innovative concept of the sailboat-hydrokinetic turbine :
- A sailboat-hydrokinetic turbine is first and foremost a sailboat, i.e. a vessel propelled by the wind. The sails are Flettner rotors, which are vertical cylinders that rotate around their axis and convert wind energy into propulsive force through the Magnus effect.
- It is equipped with tidal turbines that convert the ship’s kinetic energy into electricity, which is then converted on board into hydrogen or methanol.
The particularity of this clean energy is that it will be produced on the high seas, in order to take advantage of all the renewable energy sources available on our planet, and then delivered periodically to a terminal for the green use of hydrogen in heavy mobility.
his work led to the creation of the startup Farwind Energy in 2020.
