Abstract: The contribution of Wave Energy Converters (WECs) to the renewable energy supply is rising. A single WEC, with a capacity comparable to a classic power plant (e.g. 400 MW), is technologically impossible. Therefore arrays of WECs, placed in a geometric configuration or ‘farm’, are needed. WECs in a farm will interact and the overall power absorption will be affected. An optimal pattern of WECs in order to maximise the power absorption is of major importance in the design of a wave farm.
An existing mild-slope wave propagation model, developed at the Department of Civil Engineering, Ghent University, is adapted to investigate the interaction between wave power devices.
In this paper the basic characteristics of the mild-slope, phase-resolving model to study interacting WECs are presented.
Power absorption is implemented through sponge layers. Relations between the absorption characteristics of the sponge layers and the reflected, respectively transmitted wave pattern are derived. By adapting the coefficients of the sponge layers the absorption, reflection and transmission are affected and arrays of WECs can be modelled and studied in a relatively fast and accurate way during the design of a wave farm.
