Renewable energies represent a major challenge for the electricity system. Optimising the operation and maintenance of these facilities remains a crucial challenge in ensuring the availability of this resource. EDF Pulse Ventures, the Group's corporate venture capital arm, has identified four promising areas of innovation in this fast-growing field, as well as dozens of associated startups.
EDF, a major player in renewable energy in Europe
In response to climate change, Europe has set itself the target of achieving 42.5% renewable energy by 2030. EDF currently has an energy mix composed of 94.2% carbon-free energy, including 16.6% renewable energy. To meet European ambitions, EDF is relying on its subsidiary EDF Power Solutions (formerly EDF Renewables) to develop renewable energies to complement nuclear power.
EDF Power Solutions is a major player in onshore wind power in France and worldwide, and is actively involved in the development of offshore wind power, a rapidly growing sector in Europe, Asia and North America. In photovoltaics, the Group has been rolling out its Solar Plan in France since 2017 and is developing major projects in the Middle East, Asia and the Americas. This strategy enables EDF Power Solutions to achieve a combined production of 30.6 TWh in renewable energy.
EDF Pulse Ventures has identified 4 promising areas of innovation in the operation and maintenance of renewable energies
The operation and maintenance of offshore/onshore wind farms and photovoltaic parks are crucial to optimising energy production and minimising downtime. These sectors require constant monitoring and precise interventions to deal with vulnerable components. Faced with labour requirements, artificial intelligence and robotics are gradually revolutionising operational practices, combining efficiency and cost reduction while ensuring the reliability of installations.
This technological transformation revolves around 4 segments of innovation corresponding to the value chain of renewable energy asset operation and maintenance:
- Sensors, mainly hardware, which enable data to be collected and potential operating anomalies to be detected as quickly as possible. Beyond traditional technologies such as vibration analysis, which is used in particular in the wind power sector, new innovative solutions are emerging, such as acoustic analysis for analysing wind turbine blade defects, fibre optic analysis for monitoring the condition of bearings and composite material deformation, and the use of drones with thermal cameras to detect potential anomalies such as hot spots in solar farms more quickly.
- Once this data has been collected, it is processed using analysis software to detect any performance deviations. These increasingly sophisticated algorithms take the form of digital twins, and innovative companies now offer platforms, sometimes optimised by AI, that enable real-time performance monitoring and alerts for wind and solar farms.
- In addition to collecting and analysing data in real time, the challenge is also predictive: determining potential future failures as accurately as possible and anticipating production asset maintenance accordingly. Here again, artificial intelligence-based solutions are now capable of integrating large volumes of data to deduce the life cycle of components. This approach therefore reduces downtime and emergency repair costs while ensuring optimal productivity.
- Finally, once a failure has been detected or anticipated, several innovative approaches aim to reduce the costs of human intervention, which are particularly high in the case of offshore wind power. In this last part of the value chain, there are players offering automated intervention and repair solutions using drones (particularly for wind turbine blades) and robotic solutions for solar farm maintenance.
EDF Pulse Ventures identifies innovative startups in the renewable energy ecosystem
As part of this study, EDF Pulse Ventures identified around 50 innovative startups in the renewable energy sector. These various players can help the Group optimise the operation and maintenance of its wind and solar farms.
