Ys sponsors the Moorea team during the Vendée Va’a

The Vendée Va’a is a Polynesian open-sea canoe race that brings together more than 250 rowers. It is identified as the most difficult event in the world according to competitors (cold, short waves and wind phases).

At Ys, Polynesia is part of our culture with the development of wave energy projects on the different archipelagos and especially with the presence in Tahiti of Mauna Reveil, one of our project managers!

Ys sponsors the Va’a Polynesian team

A great opportunity for Ys to sponsor the Polynesian team TUAIVA NUI VA’A from the island of Moorea (Tahiti’s sister island)! The team was created in 2009 by the Tauhiro brothers to promote the practice of Va’a, a traditional Polynesian canoe, and to proudly defend the colors of Moorea. This is the first time they have come to Les Sables d’Olonne to participate in the Vendée Va’a, which has established itself as one of the most prestigious Polynesian canoe races in the world.

It is also an opportunity to discover the customs of the city of Les Sables d’Olonne, which is used to major maritime events. A territory that is not lacking in potential!

Corinne DUBOIS (president of Ys) and Josselin Guyot-Téphany (project manager in Vendée) were present on Friday 10th May in Les Sables d’Olonne to encourage the Va’a team. Ys was alongside the members of TUAIVA NUI VAA TAHITI MOOREA, from the launching of the Va’a until its arrival early in the afternoon on the Grande Plage in Les Sables d’Olonne.

Great results in this international race

🥈 And it is with great joy that the team climbs to the second step of the podium, despite the coolness of the water!

“This accomplishment is an immense source of pride for the TUAIVA NUI association” declares Marie Jacky Forre, member of the association.

Bringing together two territories shaped by the sea

For Ys Energies Marines Développement, it was about celebrating the reunion of two territories shaped by the sea and knowing how to take advantage of their energy to produce decarbonized electricity: Polynesia and Les Sables d’Olonne.

The day ended in the late afternoon at the Les Régates bar with a drink, traditional biscuits from the region and Polynesian songs accompanied by Ukulele.

First launch of a current meter at Le Croisic

Ys Energies Marines Developement won the Pays de la Loire Region’s Call of Projects “Port de plaisance innovant” in 2022. In this context, we have carried out pre-feasibility studies of the potential of marine energies (sea current and wave energy) on 5 marinas in Loire-Atlantique. Thanks to our analysis, the potential of a marina emerged: Le Croisic.

A crucial step in the project

Since then, we have worked in collaboration with Les Ports de Loire-Atlantique and La Région Pays de la Loire to move the project forward.

After several discussions and meetings, we are at a crucial step: launching a current meter to confirm that the modelled data by measuring the speed of the current directly at the planned location. 

We met up the teams of Creocean (oceanographic studies) , Celtics Marine Services (martime works services) and GSLC (underwater interventions) at the port of Le Croisic for the launch of the device on May 16, 2024.

A technical and meticulous operation to position the current meter at the defined location. It will remain submerged for 3 months to record the speed of the current in all circumstances, including those of high tides. 

The launch took place in several stages

• Dockside preparation of the necessary equipment
• Activation of the ADCP (current meter) and attachment to the tripod
• Loading of all the equipment on the boat using a crane
• Team briefing to be clear on the order of the steps and the role of each one
• Starting the boat to head the launching at the right location
• Launching of the mooring to ballast the device at the bottom of the water, a signal buoy will remain on the surface to secure the area
• Launch of the ADCP
• Intervention of a diver to ensure that the current meter is levelled ans that it is properly installed
• Return to the dock

This day was very enriching and with a very nice collaboration between the teams.

Now we wait and see before collecting the results of the data acquisition in 3 months.

Public debate “The Sea in Debate”: Ys wrote a…

What is public debate?

The National Commission for Public Debate (CNDP) has organised a wide-ranging public debate on maritime planning to discuss the future:

• of the sea;
• of the coast;
• marine biodiversity;
• offshore wind power.

This national debate took place on the territory of the maritime coasts of metropolitan France.

The debate was held from November 20, 2023 to April 26, 2024 to allow anyone to take part in the development of the choices made in 2024

to allow everyone to take part in the development of the choices made in 2024 on the future of the sea and offshore wind power.

Throughout the debate, the institutional actors had the opportunity to detail their points of view on the issues at stake in the debate and the project in an actors’ notebook.

Ys took part in the game and wrote its point of view.

The Big Ideas of the Ys text’s

Here is a summary of the main ideas we discuss:

🌊 Clarify the term Marine Renewable Energies (MRE) to avoid associating it directly with offshore wind power and thus give more visibility to other marine energies.

🙋 To take into account tidal energy and, above all, wave energy in a more significant way in public debates, façade strategic documents and vocation maps.

🤝 Accelerate the change of scale of the two sectors with greater support from the State. The development of renewable energies such as wind and solar would not be what it is today without the help of the State. Other energies that are just as essential to decarbonizing the energy mix need it in turn.

🎯 Define ambitious and proactive objectives, particularly through the “PPE” in France and overseas.

🤸 To be aware of the many advantages of tidal and wave energy: securing the network (predictable, regular and complementary), low visibility from the coast and a small landscape footprint.

And by the way… Technologies are ready 😉.

You can also find the arguments of the associations, fisheries committees, federations, ports, political parties, trade unions and local authorities that have taken a position on the debate!

More thant 200 texts are on line

Et merci à Josselin Guyot Téphany, chef de projet chez Ys pour la rédaction 

Our text is also available on the website of the Public debate

Ys, winner of the Sables d’Olonne Blue Economy call…

7th July 2023, Ys Energies Marines Developpement won the “Blue Economy: Maritime Innovation takes shape in Sables d’Olonne” call for expression of interest. Ys carried out a pre-feasibility study for a wave energy project in Sables d’Olonne, with its partner Créocéan, and got the jury’s support.

The call for expression of interest was launched in February 2023 by the Pôle Mer Bretagne Atlantique, Les Sables-d’Olonne Développement, the Vendée Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Comité Régional des Pêches et des Elevages Marins (COREPEM), the CEA, BPI Pays de la Loire, ADEME Pays de la Loire, the Pays de la Loire Region and Banque Populaire Grand Ouest. 15 compagnies candidated. Ys is one of the 3 winners. “The theme corresponds perfectly to our business, so it was obvious for us to apply for it”, comments Bruno LEMORT, Ys Technical Director.

Ys will be in charge of assessing the wave energy potential and characterising the sites geophysics, while Créocéan will be analysing the environmental and user issues.

INTERREG Caribbean project: 2 days of restitution on the…

27th and 30th June 2023, respectively in Guadeloupe and Saint-Lucia, Eastern Caribbean actors discovered whether tidal and wave energies were relevant for their territory.
Ys Energies Marines Développement was present, alongside its partners, to present study results.

Its’ been a few months now that the “ Interreg MRE Caribbean Project” consortium has been studying the potential of marine renewable energies in the Caribbean as part of the INTERREG Caribbean program. EKWA Consulting, Hill & Hill, David A. Simmons & Associates, Meteolien, Mariteam and YS Energies Marines Developpement have combined their know-how to study the feasibility of deploying tidal and wave technologies in the Eastern Caribbean. Objective: explore new virtuous and sustainable sources of energy.

On 27th and 30th June 2023, in Guadeloupe and Saint-Lucia, local authorities, businesses, citizens and students carefully followed the study restitution and participated in the round tables proposed. Followed officials spoke to introduce the event:

• Carmen MARQUES RUIZ, Ambassador of the European Union Climate Pact,

• Melford NICHOLAS, Minister of Information, Communication Technology (ICT), Utilities and Energy of Antigua Barbuda,

• Régis ELBEZ SGAR, sub-prefect of Guadeloupe,

• Brian CHALLENGER, Ambassador of Antigua Barbuda,

• Sylvie VANOUKIA, President of the Guadeloupe Region Energy Commission,

• Judith EPHRAIM, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy Unit at the Commission of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States,

• James FLETCHER, Chairman of the Board of the Caribbean Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE),

• Fabian LEWIS, Public Services Officer, Ministry of Infrastructure, Ports, Energy and Labor of Saint Lucia

Encouraging results

This study allowed:

• identify 4 wave energy pilot sites in Guadeloupe, Saint-Lucia, Martinique and Antigua;
• to propose different contractual and financial schemes for projects by involving all the stakeholders;
• make recommendations to continue identified projects development (consultation, on-site measurements, in-depth studies, etc.);
• to define professional training programs in the blue energy professions;
• to propose inclusive and participatory governance mechanisms involving local authorities, users and affected populations (fishing sector, port sector, etc.);
• to identify regional cooperation mechanisms between the different territories of the Eastern Caribbean on the technical, technological, academic, institutional and legal levels.

Increase in energy independence

Energy in the Caribbean relies heavily on imported fossil fuels. To give an example, Guadeloupe’s dependence on imported fuels (oil, fuel oil, coal, butane) is 93% (source: OREC Guadeloupe – 2020 data). These imports generate a high cost of electricity which constitutes an obstacle to citizen’s purchasing power.
Renewable marine energies are proving to be a real leverage for transforming the energy model of these islands. As part of the INTERREG Caribbean program, the study aims to secure energy supply and control its cost over the long term in 12 territories of the Eastern Caribbean: Guadeloupe, Martinique, Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago, Anguilla, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the British Virgin Islands.

With the support of Europe

To move forward on this issue, these territories can count on the MRE-Caribbean project. Co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and implemented by the Guadeloupe Region, the project aims to check the feasibility of developing marine renewable energy production projects (tidal and wave) in the Eastern Caribbean.
This is why the “Caribbean MRE Project” consortium has been created by the Guadeloupe-based company EKWA Consulting (leader partner), with Hill & Hill (Antigua) and David A. Simmons & Associates (Trinidad) as supporting Caribbean partners, followed by Ys Energies Marines Developpement (FR), Meteolien (FR) and Mariteam (FR).