Abstract
Multiple wave energy converter (WEC) buoys can be used to establish a WEC array-powered microgrid collectively forming a Marine Energy Grid (MEG). An oceanic domain with gravity waves will have significant spatial variability in phase, causing the power produced by a WEC array to have high peak-to-average ratios. Minimizing these power fluctuations reduces the demand for large energy storage by WEC array-powered DC microgrids while also reducing losses in the undersea cable to the shore. Designs that reduce energy storage requirements are desirable to reduce deployment and maintenance costs. This work demonstrates that polyphase power in conjunction with an energy storage system can be used to maintain constant power. This work shows that an N WEC array geometry can be designed to reduce the energy storage requirements needed to mitigate the power fluctuations if the WEC array produces constant, polyphase power. Additionally, the conditions that identify the wave frequencies and control the effort needed to produce polyphase power are developed. This paper also shows that increasing the number of WECs in an array reduces aggregate power fluctuations. Finally, WEC array power profiles are investigated using simulation results to verify the mathematical conditions developed for the three and six WEC cases.
Highlights
Energy generated by a single wave energy converter needs modulation, but a network of WECs with staggered phases can complement each other to result in constant power that can be integrated to a marine energy grid
Increasing the number of WECs in a WEC array reduces the fluctuations in the aggregate power produced by the WEC array
If the WECs constituting the WEC array produce polyphase power, the fluctuations in the net power produced by the WEC array can be mitigated
Summary
Innovative marine microgrid solutions can support the energy demands of remote communities, scientific exploration, and establishment of Forward Operating Bases (FOBs). Optimization-based approaches for better power management were extended to a multiobjective optimization by Zhou et al [12] They investigated hybrid MEGs that have a mixture of marine energy assets such that the MEG contains wind energy and tidal energy assets and demonstrated that multi-objective optimization strategies can respond to load and generation variability more efficiently than single-objective optimizations. Investigated a hybrid MEG comprising wave energy and wind energy assets [25] They showed that their load frequency control algorithm can counter the undesirable effects of variability in both loads and power generation characteristics. A wide variety of MEG power control strategies try to counter the effects of this variability using either single-objective or multi-objective optimization schemes while reducing the energy storage capacity required to maintain a constant power supply
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