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SWAC
& OTEC

Exploring the potential of Seawater Air Conditioning and wider ocean energies

Seawater Air Conditioning (SWAC) is a technological process that uses a renewable and local source of cold water to cool buildings in near proximity.

The SWAC technology is relatively simple to operate and exploits temperature difference between cold ocean water and external air temperature Cold seawater is pumped from the coast and transported by pipeline to a heat exchanger which transmits the cold of the seawater to another effluent (water or air). This effluent is then used to cool buildings, industrial machines, etc.

The SWAC system holds considerable potential in coastal areas and tropical climates with high cooling and heating requirements. Today, air conditioning represents a significant part of the energy consumption, representing around 50% of the electricity bill of supermarkets and data centers and up to 60% of the bill for agro-industries (food processing, agro-resources, etc.)

SWAC solutions

Reduces energy consumption

Uses renewable source of energy

Increases energy independence

SWAC innovations

DORIS combines its project-specific experience of SWAC with its broader offshore engineering knowledge to develop innovative solutions. These include cost-effective solutions such as self-burying pipes or the use of flexible pipe which will reduce the overall investment cost of the SWAC system by around 15%.

DORIS has also been a member of the EuroSWAC project since 2020. This project aims to design and validate an innovative, cost-effective and environmentally-friendly solution for cold production. The project uses seawater from the Channel, a widely available renewable energy source, as a refrigerant, exploiting the temperature difference between the cold ocean water and the outside air temperature.

Our Activities

Engineering

Advisory

Project management

Technical assistance

Asset management

Digital

Engineering

DORIS is committed to bringing the highest value to our clients’ projects by providing robust engineering during all the phases of a development up to decommissioning. Our multidisciplinary teams draw on our 60 years of experience and our expert capability to deliver engineering services that enable faster and safer developments with reduced cost and environmental impact.

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Advisory

With our independent expertise, DORIS is ideally positioned to resolve the technical and business challenges experienced by governments, operators and project and technology developers. Our consulting team, supported by our technical experts, comprehensively address risks and opportunities to ensure the ultimate success of our clients’ developments or businesses.

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Project management

DORIS manages projects of any size, both local and international. We provide a complete offering of project management services and can allocate resources on an adaptable basis, be it integrating into our clients’ technical team or supervising and managing projects. Our project management teams focus on planning and de-risking projects and ensuring that costs are appropriately monitored and controlled.

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Technical assistance

Across our 60 years of experience, we have developed a broad range of technical expertise that we actively reapply to our clients’ projects. We can support clients from the earliest phases of their project’s development, through execution, construction, and installation, and up to field operations.

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Asset management

ODE Asset Management is an established asset management and operations support provider. Across our operations, we integrate ourselves seamlessly into clients’ teams. We draw on our deep understanding of the cost and complexity challenges seen in the UKCS energy sector and have a unique service-offering tailored to our clients’ needs.

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Digital

Data management and valorization allow organizations to be more efficient in their decision-making process and in their project execution and operation. For these reasons, DORIS has developed adapted tools to support our clients with their operational challenges and their continuous process of collecting, structuring and valorizing data.

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