Around the world, the development of electric vehicles is underway, including in maritime transportation. However, the development of clean energy vessels still has a long way to go. Fuel cells (FCs) are a relevant choice among the many clean energy sources to power clean energy vessels. However, due to the complex and drastic change in the shipload power, FCs need to be equipped with dynamic fast-response energy storage equipment to make up for it. For multiple energy storage devices connected in parallel, the state of charge (SOC) is not balanced, which affects their service life and the stability of the vessel microgrid, as well as slowing the speed and lowering the accuracy of SOC equalization. This paper proposes a distributed variable sag slope control strategy for vessels to improve SOC equalization, with a FC as the energy source and a battery and supercapacitor as the energy storage system (ESS). For the output power distribution problem of energy storage equipment caused by shipload power variation, a power distribution strategy with a variable filter time constant is used to improve the reasonableness of the output power distribution of energy-based lithium batteries and power-based supercapacitors. Meanwhile, this paper considers the power generation equipment’s service life and energy cost as the optimization objectives, considering the discharge depth of the energy storage equipment. Finally, a method based on the combination of the lithium battery SOC rule (the rule formulated according to the state of charge and load power change in energy storage equipment) and particle swarm optimization algorithm is proposed to solve this problem. The simulation results show that the proposed strategy improves the equalization speed and accuracy of the SOC of energy storage devices, fully realizes the characteristics of different energy storage devices, and reduces the life loss of energy storage devices.

This study mainly investigates the current and speed control strategies of a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG), which is applied to a tidal stream turbine (TST). Indeed, DFIG using integer-order PI (IOPI) controller has been widely proposed in the applications with a similar system, especially in wind energy conversion system (WECS). However, these conventional controllers cannot deal with the problems caused by the parameter variations satisfactorily under complex and harsh operation conditions, and may even deteriorate the performance. As a result, a fractional-order PI (FOPI) controller is considered to improve the efficiency and performance of DFIG-based TST in this paper. The FOPI controller, developed from the traditional IOPI controller and the fractional calculus theory, has a lot of prominent merits in many aspects, such as robustness, stability, and dynamic performance. In this paper, the proposed control strategies are embedded into the whole TST model which contains the tidal stream turbine, and the generator. The obtained simulation results demonstrate the prominent effectiveness and advantages of the proposed strategies compared with the conventional IOPI controller in terms of overshoot, static error, adjustment time, and robustness. It implies that FOPI controller could be a good candidate in TST applications.

Wave compensation technology is crucial to the safety of the ship operation and the accurate placement of load. Its compensation efficiency and the gentle change of the rope tension are particularly important. In this paper, we adopt permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM) as the actuator to construct the basic wave compensation system. Firstly, the motion model of ship and load under wave action is established, and the fractional-order PID (FOPID) controller for the position loop of the PMSM is introduced. Then, the parameters of FOPID are optimized by genetic algorithm-particle swarm optimization (GAPSO) algorithm, which is based on genetic algorithms (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithms for better compensation performance. The wave synchronization strategy is used to simulate the load, when it needs to be taken into the water. The non-linear dynamic equations of the rope are solved by Lagrange mechanics and the heave displacement is obtained by time series prediction algorithm. Finally, the effect of wave compensation and wave synchronization strategy are verified on MATLAB/Simulink. The results show that after the compensation, the crane load can follow the set height value very well, the compensation efficiency can reach more than 94%, and the wave synchronization strategy significantly reduces the change of the rope tension.

Nowadays, Dynamic Positioning (DP) is applied to various tasks such as subsea pipeline laying and the requirements for the positioning performance in marine operations are higher and higher. The main objective of this paper is to design a DP controller based on the Active Disturbance Rejection Control (ADRC) to solve the problems of long response time, large overshoot and low positioning accuracy in ship positioning. Firstly, the mathematical models of the ship and environmental disturbances are established. Secondly, the basic principle of ADRC is described. Meanwhile, stability analysis of the control system is introduced. Thirdly, ADRC is improved by the fal function filter and phase prediction method which solve the problem of dither and phase delay in tracking differentiators. Finally, simulations are carried out to verify the performance of the designed ADRC and the improved ADRC. Several simulation results show that the designed ADRC can realize the fixed-point control of the ship, which effectively solves the problems of long response time, overshoot and positioning accuracy, and compared with the traditional ADRC, the improved ADRC can reduce the error of straight track control, which indicates that ADRC can meet the requirements for the positioning performance and has a strong application value.

Considering the depletion of oil, coal, gas and other fossil energy, and the increasingly serious environmental pollution, all countries in the world are developing clean and renewable energy, such as wind energy, water energy, solar energy, etc., to alleviate the current energy crisis. Tidal current energy belongs to the marine renewable energy. It is clean, pollution-free, and abundant, with a good prospect of development due to its similarity with wind energy. This paper firstly analyses the reserves and distribution of tidal current energy in China. Then the early exploration of Tidal Current Power Generation System (TCPGS) in China is briefly introduced. Subsequently, it gives the details of the devices and experimental platforms of TCPGS that were researched and developed by various universities, research institutes and enterprises in China. The information mainly includes: the size and the capacity of the system, the support structure, turbine type, the selection of generator, and some river and offshore test information, etc. Finally, it discusses the similarities and differences between China and other countries in tidal current power generation technology, and summaries the current development status and gives the prospect of the TCPGS technology in China.

The ambition of making North Africa a hub for renewable energies and green hydrogen has prompted local governments and the private sector to work together towards boosting the growth of locally available, sustainable energy resources. Numerous climate and energy challenges can be addressed by microgrid technologies, which enable cost-effective incorporation of renewable energy resources and energy storage systems through smart management and control infrastructures. This paper discusses the ongoing energy transition in the countries of North Africa, highlighting the potential for renewable energy sources as well as regional obstacles and challenges. Additionally, it explores how robust and stable controls and advanced management strategies can improve microgrids’ performances. Special attention is given to assessing the advantages and disadvantages of conventional and advanced controllers, with an emphasis on resilience needed within the harsh North African environment.