Technology readiness levels are a widely used metric of technology maturity and risk for marine renewable energy devices. To-date, a large number of device concepts have been proposed which have reached the early validation stages of development. Only a handful of mature designs have attained pre-commercial development status following prototype sea trials. In order to navigate through the aptly named “valley of death” towards commercial realisation, it is necessary for new technologies to be de-risked in terms of component durability and reliability. In this paper the scope of the reliability assessment module of the DTOcean design tool is outlined including aspects of tool integration, data provision and how prediction uncertainties are accounted for

Backup of the data used for characterising the different biofouling monitoring protocols in an excel file.

The consequences of climate change for marine organisms are now well-known, and include metabolism and behavior modification, distribution area shifts and changes in the community. In the Bay of Biscay, the potential environmental niches of subtropical non-indigenous species (NIS) are projected to expand as a response to sea temperature rise by the mid-century under the RCP8.5 climate change scenario. In this context, this study aims to project the combined effects of changes in indigenous species distribution and metabolism and NIS arrivals on the functioning of the Bay of Biscay trophic network. To do this, we created six different Ecopath food web models: a “current situation” trophic model (2007–2016) and five “future” trophic models. The latter five models included various NIS biomass combinations to reflect different potential scenarios of NIS arrivals. For each model, eight Ecological Network Analysis (ENA) indices were calculated, describing the properties of the food web resulting from the sum of interactions between organisms. Our results illustrate that rising temperature increases the quantity of energy passing through the system due to increased productivity. A decrease in the biomass of some trophic groups due to the reduction of their potential environmental niches also leads to changes in the structure of the trophic network. The arrival of NIS is projected to change the fate of organic matter within the ecosystem, with higher cycling, relative ascendency, and a chain-like food web. It could also cause new trophic interactions that could lead to competition and thus modify the food-web structure, with lower omnivory and higher detritivory. The combined impacts (increasing temperatures and NIS arrivals) could lower the resilience and resistance of the system.

Deliverable D4.2 “Stage Gate Tools – alpha version” of the DTOceanPlus project includes the details of the Stage Gate Design Tool, and it represents the result of the work developed during task T4.2 of the project. This tool is an application of a stage gate process which is used in research and industry to provide structure to the technology development process. This approach supports the R&D pathway towards producing reliable and cost-effective ocean energy sub-systems, devices and arrays.

This deliverable consists of two parts. The first one is a comprehensive review of all the electrical infrastructure technologies between the converter and the point of connection to the onshore electrical grid. The second one is a set of operating regimes of the ocean energy conversion arrays

This document summarizes both the module functionalities and the more technical aspects of the code implemented in the station keeping module.

This document aimed at developing a comprehensive communication plan developed at the beginning of the project in accordance with the overall project management. This plan was an evolving document built on a targeted communication of the DTOceanPluq project results and capitalization on the community. It is the reference framework for evaluating the impact of communication and dissemination activities.

This report is the outcome of a task dedicated to specific sector standards for business management models for the ocean energy sector. The aim of this task was to define alternative business models for the sector by developing a greater understanding of these models and recommending development routes to industrial roll-out to improving the market opportunity.

The Structured Innovation (SI) design tool forms part of the DTOceanPlus suite of second-generation open source design tools for ocean energy. The SI tool comprises innovation methodologies which can enhance concept creation and selection in ocean energy systems (including sub-systems, energy capture devices and arrays), enabling a structured approach to address complex ocean energy engineering challenges where design options are numerous, and thus it can facilitate efficient evolution from concept to commercialisation.

This document serves as the technical manual of the alpha version of the system performance and energy yield module, including all the data requirements, main functions, interfaces and all the pertinent technical details.