Experimental study and numerical modelling of intra-array interactions and extra-array effects of wave energy converter arrays

Renewable energy is constantly being developed to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels. Energy from ocean waves can be utilized by installing Wave Energy Converters (abbreviated as WECs) in the sea, which are devices that convert the kinetic and/or potential energy of waves into electricity. Many concepts of WECs have already been developed, mainly distinguished based on the conversion principle, in (i) oscillating water columns and wave-activated bodies, which oscillate under incident waves, and (ii) overtopping devices, which capture the overtopped waves in a basin above sea level that creates a hydraulic head. In order to extract a considerable amount of energy at a specific site location, the installation of large numbers of WECs will be required, arranged using specific geometric configuration. In this chapter, an overview of typically performed research on waveactivated bodies and WEC arrays is provided, since this PhD dissertation deals with arrays of this WEC type. In contrast to the large body of numerical simulations of WEC arrays and the physical modelling of individual WECs or pairs of WECs, very few experimental studies are publically available which deal with only small WEC arrays. There is, therefore, a lack of physical modelling studies on large WEC arrays and a clear need to perform such experiments, which has been dealt with within the main objective of this PhD research.

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