Comparative study on the capture performance of two wave energy converters integrated into the jacket-frame foundation

Abstract

The global pursuit of clean energy resources to cope with escalating energy demands has underscored the pivotal roles of wind and wave power as two prominent renewable energy sources for the power industry. In order to promote the comprehensive harnessing of ocean energy, research efforts have increasingly focused on hybrid approaches, aiming to concurrently capture wind and wave energies. This paper proposes two types of wind-wave hybrid device, which combines wind turbine with a wave energy converter (WEC), based on jacket-frame foundation. The numerical models of the WECs were created using SOLIDWORKS, and the subsequent simulations were conducted using ANSYS Workbench. The comparative analysis revealed that the heave-type WEC had less added mass and radiation damping, coupled with larger response amplitude operator (RAO) and shorter natural period compared to the swinging counterpart. Meanwhile, the swing-type WEC exhibited higher motion speed and greater support reaction force and connecting force, thereby exerting more pronounced influence on the foundation. However, the average hourly power generation of the swinging WEC was significantly better in terms of power capture. In practice, the choice between these WEC configurations should consider aligning the power matrix with the probability distribution of prevailing sea state conditions.