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Numerical Modelling Techniques for Wave Energy Converters in Arrays

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Ocean Wave Energy Systems

Part of the book series: Ocean Engineering & Oceanography ((OEO,volume 14))

Abstract

Wave and tidal renewable energy systems have received a great deal of attention in recent years worldwide. A number of Wave Energy Converter (WEC) technologies to harvest wave energy have been proposed, developed, tested and in operation in ocean at different parts of the globe with varying maturity levels. Over the past two decades, a broad range of academic research output has emerged, covering topics that include numerical and physical modelling of WEC arrays systems. However, to date, there have only been limited examples of WEC array installations, and these have been small in terms of the number of devices. Many developments in the future will focus on arrays of devices, as such an improved understanding of how arrays can be modelled is essential. This article attempts to describe the numerical modelling techniques used to study the hydrodynamic interaction of WEC arrays. An understanding of these techniques is necessary for not only device developers and researchers, but also for authorities, investors, insurers and other stakeholders. Such work will provide evidence for the expected energy output, control requirements, array configurations and to evaluate any environmental impact the array deployments may have on the ocean environment.

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Acknowledgements

Work presented in this paper is part of the TeraWatt (EP/J010170/1) and Ecowatt2050 (EP/K012851/1) projects and the authors wish to acknowledge support from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The authors are also grateful to Cefas (UK) for wave buoys data, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) for providing wind data, European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) for providing wave buoy data for Orkney, The Crown Estate, UKHO and Marine Scotland Sciences for providing bathymetry data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Energy Systems, School of Engineering, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Vengatesan Venugopal

  2. Engineering Cluster, Singapore Institute of Technology, Singapore, Singapore

    Zhi Yung Tay

  3. DHI (India) Water and Environment Pvt Ltd, Delhi, India

    Tirumaleswara Reddy Nemalidinne

Authors
  1. Vengatesan Venugopal
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  2. Zhi Yung Tay
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  3. Tirumaleswara Reddy Nemalidinne
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Correspondence to Vengatesan Venugopal .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ocean Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

    Abdus Samad

  2. Department of Ocean Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

    S.A Sannasiraj

  3. Department of Ocean Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

    V Sundar

  4. Institute of Ocean Energy, Saga University, Saga, Japan

    Paresh Halder

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Venugopal, V., Tay, Z.Y., Nemalidinne, T.R. (2022). Numerical Modelling Techniques for Wave Energy Converters in Arrays. In: Samad, A., Sannasiraj, S., Sundar, V., Halder, P. (eds) Ocean Wave Energy Systems. Ocean Engineering & Oceanography, vol 14. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78716-5_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78716-5_9

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-78715-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-78716-5

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