Abstract
One of the key challenges in designing a Wave Energy Converter (WEC) farm is geometrical layout, as WECs hydrodynamically interact with one another. WEC positioning impacts both the power output of a given wave-energy project and any potential effects on the surrounding areas. The WEC farm developer must seek to optimize WEC positioning to maximize power output while minimizing capital cost and any potential deleterious effects on the surrounding area. A number of recent studies have shown that a potential solution is placing WECs in dense arrays of several WECs with space between individual arrays for navigation. This innovative arrangement can also be used to reduce mooring and cabling costs. In this paper, we apply a novel one-way coupling method between the NEMOH BEM model and the MILDwave wave-propagation model to investigate the influence of WEC array separation distance on the power output and the surrounding wave field between two densely packed WEC arrays in a farm. An iterative method of applying the presented one-way coupling to interacting WEC arrays is used to compute the wave field in a complete WEC farm and to calculate its power output. The notion of WEC array ‘independence’ in a farm from a hydrodynamic point of view is discussed. The farm is modeled for regular and irregular waves for a number of wave periods, wave incidence angles, and various WEC array separation distances. We found strong dependency of the power output on the wave period and the wave incidence angle for regular waves at short WEC array–array separation distances. For irregular wave operational conditions, a large majority of WEC array configurations within a WEC farm were found to be hydrodynamically ‘independent’.
Highlights
Ocean wave energy is a promising source of clean electricity that has the potential to make a significant contribution in reducing the world’s dependence on fossil fuels
Depending on the wave type, wave incidence angle, and interarray separation distance, we explore the magnitude of the effect of the presence of one array in the proximity of another on the total Wave Energy Converter (WEC) farm power output
If we can assume that two WEC arrays (I and II) in a farm are hydrodynamically independent, i.e., they behave as isolated, the power absorbed by each WEC array can be computed in one iteration
Summary
Ocean wave energy is a promising source of clean electricity that has the potential to make a significant contribution in reducing the world’s dependence on fossil fuels. In order for it to follow the path of offshore wind and become a commercially viable power source, significant cost reductions must be made. Because of physical restrictions on the size of individual wave energy converters (WECs), it is the established view of the wave-energy community that WECs have to be deployed in farms to be economically viable. To benefit from developing offshore infrastructure and the maritime support industry, such farms need to have a power rating in the order of hundreds of megawatts. With the most promising current WEC technology, this corresponds to farms of hundreds of WECs. With the most promising current WEC technology, this corresponds to farms of hundreds of WECs How these WECs are grouped and arranged within a WEC farm to maximize profitability while minimizing detrimental effects is still an open question.
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