Nantes, France
Energy Observer was in Nantes from the 9th to the 17th of September for its fourth stopover of its Odyssey for the Future.
Coming from: Cherbourg, France
Time of arrival: 10:00 AM
Energy Observer in Nantes
From the 9th to the 17th of September, Nantes welcomed Energy Observer for its fourth stopover of its Tour de France. The event took place Parc des Chantiers (île de Nantes) right by the Big Elephant. This area, which used to accommodate ship yards, redeployed itself to become the creative and innovative neighborhood of Nantes, a symbolic choice for Energy Observer.
The Energy Observer exhibition
A hydrogen themed arrival, with Johanna Rolland
For the catamaran’s arrival at Parc des Chantiers, the crew had the pleasure of welcoming on board Johanna Rolland, the Mayor of Nantes, who came to greet the team. The boat was also escorted by the Jules Verne 2, the first passenger transport vessel running on hydrogen, which will start operating on the River Erdre in October.
More than 8,000 visitors in the Energy Observer village
All through the week, the crew were delighted to welcome over 8,000 enthusiastic and inquisitive visitors : school groups, engineers or people who came out of simple curiosity – the Nantes public certainly made their presence felt during this fourth stopover. Most notably a VIP guest : the Grand Elephant from the Machines de l’Île.
Energy Observer in Nantes
Victorien Erussard and Jérôme Delafosse meet the public
On Saturday the 16th of September, Victorien Erussard, the boat’s captain, and Jérôme Delafosse, the expedition leader, met the Nantes public. Whether visitors were novices or specialists, they all had the opportunity to exchange with the two men for over an hour, and question them about life on board of Energy Observer, about hydrogen and the future of sea transport…
Victorien et Jérôme présentent Energy Observer au public
The very first grams of hydrogen produced on board
All through the week, there was no let-up in the work for the engineers and crew, with the two main tasks for this stopover in Nantes focusing on the wind turbines and electrolysis.
With the help of the nearby Nantes ICAM school, and based on the results of the navigation from Cherbourg to Nantes, the architects and engineers analysed the first tests carried out on the vertical wind turbines. Since the turbines still needed to be fine-tuned, the team decided to remove one of them and carry out tests in the wind tunnel.
But most importantly, for the very first time, Energy Observer produced its first grams of hydrogen using water from the River Loire! These first tests were successful and were eagerly awaited by all the team, and will be continued between Nantes and Bordeaux.
Energy Observer in Nantes
During the voyage between Nantes and Bordeaux, the navigator Yves Parlier and his team from Beyond the Sea came on board Energy Observer to test the 50m² smart traction kite. The kite’s size requires considerable manoeuvring skills. It will be connected to the centre of the vessel by 100-metre cables. An inertial measurement unit is used to help the kite communicate with the boat via a robot.
