WAVE ENERGY

The power in the wave is proportional to the

square of the amplitude and to the period of
the motion. Therefore the long period ~10 s,
large amplitude ~2m waves have considerable
interest for power generation, with energy
fluxes commonly averaging between 50 and 70
kWm-1 width of oncoming wave.
 Difficulties facing wave power developments

• Wave patterns are irregular in amplitude, phase and direction. It

is difficult to design devices to extract power efficiently over the
wide range of variables.
• There is always some probability of hurricanes producing waves
of high intensity. Commonly the 50 year peak wave is 10 times
the height of the average wave. Thus the structures have to
withstand ~100 times the power intensity to which they are
normally matched. Allowing for this is expensive and will
probably reduce normal efficiency of power extraction.
• Peak power is generally available in deep water waves
• Wave periods are commonly ~5–10 s (frequency ~0.1Hz). It is
extremely difficult to couple this irregular slow motion to
electrical generators requiring ~500 times greater frequency.
• So many types of device may be suggested for wave power
extraction that the task of selecting a particular method is made
complicated.
Wave motion

Most wave energy devices are designed to extract energy

from deep water waves. This is the most common form
of wave, found when the mean depth of the sea bed D is
more than about half the wavelength (λ)
An average sea wave for power generation may be
expected to have a wavelength of ~100 m and amplitude
of ~3 m, and to behave as a deep water wave at depths
of sea bed greater than ~30 m.
The circular particle motion has an amplitude
that decreases exponentially with depth and
becomes negligible for D> λ /2.