Positive Interaction of Hydrodynamic Motions of an Offshore Wind Turbine With Co-Located WEC

Abstract

Abstract Renewable marine energy is plentiful and available, with most systems moving further offshore to capture this resource as a higher energy power density can be extracted. Both offshore wind turbines and Wave Energy Converters (WECs) are generally existing within similar geotechnical locations and therefore could benefit from co-location of devices, as shared infrastructure would be a major factor for reducing Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE). This paper is focused on the benefits of having a co-located hybrid renewable marine system, which consists of offshore wind turbine and WEC in conjunction, for the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of Offshore Wind and Wave Energy grant. The principal focus of the grant is to minimise capital costs and/or maximise productivity. However, by maximising power performance, the maximum fluid-structure interactions between the device, the waves, and wind are required. A numerical approach was simulated using ANSYS AQWA to solve for interaction between a co-located Wind Turbine (WT) and WEC device. The simulation was validated against analytical sources and alternative software NEMOH. Effects of the co-location for the power efficiency and reduction of the force related to the WT, showed that the positioning of the WEC provides a greater influence on results than the radiation damping effect.