Abstract: Developing a technology which survives storms and hurricanes, and which proves cost efficient enough to make power generation from ocean waves commercially viable, has been the very challenge of wave energy, in which no one has succeeded, so far.
Straumekraft has faced this challenge, through years of work in design, engineering and practical testing of the company’s point-absorber technology. From these experiences, we have a valuable understanding of the nature of ocean waves, and of the technical issues that must be handled for wave energy to succeed. These include: extreme waves
(which the wave energy converter must survive) vs. moderate sized waves (from which energy and income is generated), maintenance issues (maintenance requirements must be low, especially for offshore located systems), low motion speeds in the waves (which calls for being “geared up”), and pulsating energy capture (which calls for smoothing).
All wave energy developers face these issues. The present paper is an assessment of the general challenges of wave energy, and also presents Straumekraft’s wave energy technology, and explains how the company has chosen to approach those challenges, in order to realize a wave power as a commercial product.
