RT Journal Article
T1 Intra-annual variability in the performance of an oscillating water column wave energy converter
A1 Carballo, Rodrigo
A1 López, Iván
A1 Iglesias, Gregorio
K1 Oscillating water column
K1 Physical modelling
K1 Air compressibility
K1 Numerical modelling
K1 Wave energy
K1 Turbine-induced damping
AB The intra-annual variability in the wave resource is often disregarded when analysing the performance of wave energy converters (WECs), despite the fact that this variability is substantial in the majority of the areas of interest for the development of wave energy. The objective of this work is to analyse and quantify the intra-annual variability in the performance of oscillating water column (OWC) WECs through a case study in Galicia (NW Spain). To this end a three-step methodology which combines numerical and experimental modelling is followed: (i) intra-annual wave energy resource matrices are determined numerically through a high-resolution procedure; (ii) efficiency matrices of the device are determined by means of physical modelling, considering the influence of air compressibility and different turbine specifications represented through different values of turbine-induced damping; and (iii) finally, intra-annual energy capture matrices are calculated by combining the resource and efficiency matrices. It is found that the intra-annual variability in the energy capture of an OWC converter is significant, over 20% in the case study considered, albeit slightly smaller than that of the wave energy resource itself. The turbine-induced damping exerts a modulating effect over the variability in the intra-annual captured energy. Furthermore, the optimum damping which maximises the performance of the OWC converter varies from month to month.
PB Elsevier
SN 0196-8904
YR 2020
FD 2020
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/32260
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/32260
LA eng
NO I. López, R. Carballo, G. Iglesias, Intra-annual variability in the performance of an oscillating water column wave energy converter, Energy Conversion and Management, Volume 207, 2020, 112536, ISSN 0196-8904, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2020.112536.
NO During this work I. López was supported by a postdoctoral grant of the ‘Programa de Axudas á etapa posdoutoral da Xunta de Galicia (Spain)’ with reference number ED481D 2019/019.
DS Minerva
RD 30 abr 2026