DesignPro Renewables now have a display in the public institution, Maison écocitoyenne located on the banks of the Garonne River in Bordeaux, France. As part of their ongoing dissemination of project results, the custom pop-up banner showcases the company’s EU Horizon 2020 SME Instrument funded project to develop and commercialise small-scale hydrokinetic turbines for rivers and estuaries featuring facts about their 25kW hydrokinetic turbine deployed at the SEENEOH test site.
SEENEOH is located within metres of the building on the river and is a fully operational site open to testing the performance and environmental impact of tidal turbines. DesignPro’s 25kW turbine has been deployed there since September 2018 and is connected to the French grid. The aim of the company’s presentation is to inform people about the project, raise awareness about hydrokinetic energy and to get them outside to view the device in full operation themselves.
“We are delighted to have our SEENEOH project featured in the Maison écocitoyenne. The fact that the centre is right alongside the Garonne River makes it an ideal place to showcase our project information with visitors being able to walk right outside and see the device in action. It is an excellent facility open to the public and another fantastic example of the city of Bordeaux’s many proactive actions on sustainability.” – Vincent Mc Cormack, Innovation Manager, DesignPro Renewables
The Maison écocitoyenne is managed by the public service, Bordeaux Métropole and was set up to raise awareness about sustainable development particularly about ecological matters and energy transition. The 500m2 refurbished building is completely environmentally friendly and sustainable using solar photo-voltaic panels and solar sensors for energy, a vegetal roof to provide thermal insulation and features several bird boxes. It is free to visit and showcases a number of permanent and temporary exhibitions as well as events such as workshops, guided city walks and a twice weekly energy information service.
“The Maison Ecocitoyenne is a unifying tool for good practices in the territory, an energy aggregator and initiatives committed to energy and ecological transitions. Seeneoh is a concrete application of a project that combines technological innovation with natural resources and we’re glad to expose this banner to visitors who want to know more.” – Guillaume Mousteils, Chargé d’animation de la Maison écocitoyenne, Direction de l’énergie, de l’écologie et du développement durable, Service sensibilisation, accompagnement et participation des publics
DesignPro’s Innovation Manager, Vincent Mc Cormack visited the team there this week: Emmanuelle Suel, Patrick Faucher, Guillaume Mousteils and Julia Leveque, to thank them for their help to date and to speak about future conference opportunities at the Maison écocitoyenne.