Europe has set ambitious deployment targets for tidal stream energy. The EU Horizon Europe funded MAXBlade project aims to reduce uncertainties in technology and component performance to enable large-scale commercial deployment.
As part of the project, material samples will be tested onshore and offshore to address uncertainties around corrosion, biofouling, ageing and coating repairability. Part of the research will be carried at TECNALIA’s DANTE (Dynamic Antifouling TEsting) marine laboratory and test rig, located at the Bilbao PortLab, to test different formulations of blade coatings, antifouling properties and dynamic frictional resistance under realistic conditions. The testing process consists of exposing different coating formulations to natural seawater, alternating static periods (where marine organisms adhere to the surface) with dynamic ones (where the antifouling coatings should cause these marine organisms to detach).
To see how the research will be conducted, watch TECNALIA’s video of its DANTE test rig for tailor-made antifouling coating testing in action.