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.

The aim of this document is to present the activity carried out by the four industrial partners who validated the DTOcean+ suite against five wave energy validation scenarios.

This report is the outcome of an analysis of potential markets for ocean energy technology. The aim was to develop a greater understanding of the potential markets for the deployment and the exploitation of these technologies. The focus includes both the present market status and future opportunities for commercialisation of both grid and non-grid applications.

This report provides an introduction to the architecture of the installation module within the DTOcean global tool

This deliverable is a review of existing approaches and methodologies for the analysis of ocean energy arrays with a clear focus on the results and conclusions provided by previous experiences. The key outcome is the definition of quantifiable and qualitative metrics for economic viability, reliability and environmental impact which have been adopted in the global set of tools developed within the project DTOcean

Ocean energy is a relevant source of clean renewable energy, and as it is still facing challenges related to its above grid-parity costs, tariffs intended to support in a structured and coherent way are of great relevance and potential impact. The logistics and marine operations required for installing and maintaining these systems are major cost drivers of marine renewable energy projects. Planning the logistics of marine energy projects is a highly complex and intertwined process, and to date, limited advances have been made in the development of decision support tools suitable for ocean energy farm design. The present paper describes the methodology of a novel, opensource, logistic and marine operation planning tool, integrated within DTOceanPlus suite of design tools, and responsible for producing logistic solutions comprised of optimal selections of vessels, port terminals, equipment, as well as operation plans, for ocean energy projects. Infrastructure selection logistic functions were developed to select vessels, ports, and equipment for specific projects. A statistical weather window model was developed to estimate operation delays due to weather. A vessel charter rate modeling approach, based on an in-house vessel database and industry experience, is described in detail. The overall operation assumptions and underlying operating principles of the statistical weather window model, maritime infrastructure selection algorithms, and cost modeling strategies are presented. Tests performed for a case study based a theoretical floating wave energy converter produced results in good agreement with reality.

This deliverable presents the results from the assessment of existing array level operation, maintenance and control methods and tools. Potential sources of knowledge for this are the onshore and offshore wind industry and the offshore oil and gas industry. Offshore wind farms face very similar challenges with respect to foundations, submersed electrical systems, personnel and vessel access to array devices, transport of materials, etc. The offshore oil and gas industry has worked with floating or bottom fixed concrete and steel structures for several decades. Main experiences analysed here are related to corrosion problems and long-term stability of mooring systems. Control and operational strategy aspects were also assessed

A coherent set of functional and technical requirements have been developed for the DTOcean+ suite of design tools based on analysis of gaps between the current state-of-the-art tools, learning from the original DTOcean project, and the stakeholder expectations identified in the user consultation survey. The technical requirements in this document are translated from the general requirements for the software suite of tools, and specific requirements (functional, operational, user, interfacing, and data) for the assessment tools that will be developed as part of this project.

This deliverable is the second report on dissemination and communication activities, i.e. the end of the project review. It presents all of the activities which have taken place within DTOcean project

A coherent set of functional and technical requirements have been developed for the DTOceanPlus suite of design tools based on analysis of gaps between the current state-of-the-art tools, learning from the original DTOcean project, and the stakeholder expectations identified in the user consultation survey. The technical requirements in this document are translated from the general requirements for the overall suite of tools, and specific requirements (functional, operational, user, interfacing, and data) for the Structured Innovation design tool that has been developed as part of this project. These requirements relate to detailed technical requirements of the technology and environment, for the development, maintenance, support and execution of the software specifications to best meet the needs of the ocean energy industry.