Lysekil Research Site, Sweden: Status Update (original) (raw)

Wave Energy Research at Uppsala University and The Lysekil Research Site, Sweden: A Status Update

This paper provides a summarized status update of the Lysekil wave power project. The Lysekil project is coordinated by the Div. of Electricity, Uppsala University since 2002, with the objective to develop full-scale wave power converters (WEC). The concept is based on a linear synchronous generator (anchored to the seabed) driven by a heaving point absorber. This WEC has no gearbox or other mechanical or hydraulic conversion systems, resulting in a simpler and robust power plant. Since 2006, 12 such WECs have been build and tested at the research site located at the west coast of Sweden. The last update includes a new and extended project permit, deployment of a new marine substation, tests of several concepts of heaving buoys, grid connection, improved measuring station, improved modelling of wave power farms, implementation of remote operated vehicles for underwater cable connection, and comprehensive environmental monitoring studies.

Experimental results on power absorption from a wave energy converter at the Lysekil wave energy research site

Renewable Energy

Power generation from wave power has a large potential to contribute to our electric energy production, and today, many wave power projects are close to be commercialized. However, one key issue to solve for many projects is to decrease the cost per installed kW. One way to do this is to investigate which parameters that have a significant impact on the wave energy converters (WEC) performance. In this paper, experimental results on power absorption from a directly driven point absorbing WEC are presented. The experiments have been carried out at the Lysekil research site in Sweden. To investigate the performance of the WEC, the absorbed power and the speed of the translator are compared. The result confirms that the buoy size and the translator weight have a large impact on the power absorption from the generator. By optimizing the buoy size and translator weight, the WEC is believed to produce power more evenly over the upward and downward cycle. Moreover, to predict the maximum p...

Wave Energy from the North Sea: Experiences from the Lysekil Research Site

Surveys in Geophysics, 2008

This paper provides a status update on the development of the Swedish wave energy research area located close to Lysekil on the Swedish West coast. The Lysekil project is run by the Centre for Renewable Electric Energy Conversion at Uppsala University. The project was started in 2004 and currently has permission to run until the end of 2013. During this time period 10 grid-connected wave energy converters, 30 buoys for studies on environmental impact, and a surveillance tower for monitoring the interaction between waves and converters will be installed and studied. To date the research area holds one complete wave energy converter connected to a measuring station on shore via a sea cable, a Wave Rider TM buoy for wave measurements, 25 buoys for studies on environmental impact, and a surveillance tower. The wave energy converter is based on a linear synchronous generator which is placed on the sea bed and driven by a heaving point absorber at the ocean surface. The converter is directly driven, i.e. it has no gearbox or other mechanical or hydraulic conversion system. This results in a simple and robust mechanical system, but also in a somewhat more complicated electrical system.

Lysekil Research Site, Sweden : A status update

2011

Ocean wave energy can be harnessed and converted into electric energy nowadays. This provides a possibility for populations that live on islands or along coastlines to utilize the renewable and safe power produced by ocean waves. Point absorbing wave energy converter (WEC) is one example of such devices for electrical power production from ocean waves. It is composed of a floating buoy on the water surface, and a linear generator that sits on seabed and is connected with the buoy via a line. Electricity is generated when the buoy moves up and down in the waves.The geometry and dimensions of the floating buoy have dominant influences on the energy absorption. This thesis introduces an equivalent electric circuit for modelling the hydrodynamic interaction between the wave and a cylindrical buoy. The model allows a rapid assessment of the velocity, force in the connection line and output power, by which the system design and optimization can be performed faster and easier.The electric ...

Experiments at Islandsberg on the West Coast of Sweden in Preparation of the Construction of a Pilot Wave Power Plant

For testing and evaluating purposes, a pilot wave power plant is under construction at Islandsberg on the West Coast of Sweden. The concept suggested for wave energy conversion consists of a surface following buoy, a point absorber, connected to a three-phase permanent magnetised linear generator placed at the seabed. The motions of the buoy drive a piston in the generator, thereby converting the energy of the waves into electric energy. This paper describes the test site and the two measurement set- ups that are in use in order to receive information for the design and optimisation of the direct driven linear generator. A Datawell Waverider buoy provides wave data in the form of time series of wave elevation and wave variance spectra. The second set- up, built in house, measures loads on a full-scale point absorber.

Wave energy converter with enhanced amplitude response at frequencies coinciding with Swedish west coast sea states by use of a supplementary submerged body

JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS 106, 064512, 2009

The full-scale direct-driven wave energy converter developed at Uppsala University has been in offshore operation at the Swedish west coast since 2006. Earlier simulations have now been validated by full-scale experiment with good agreement. Based on that, a theoretical model for a passive system having optimum amplitude response at frequencies coinciding with Swedish west coast conditions has been developed. The amplitude response is increased by adding supplementary inertia by use of the additional mass from a submerged body. A sphere with neutral buoyancy is chosen as the submerged body and modeled as being below the motion of the waves. The model is based on potential linear wave theory and the power capture ratio is studied for real ocean wave data collected at the research test site. It is found that the power capture ratio for the two body system can be increased from 30% to 60% compared to a single body system. Increased velocity in the system also decreases the value for optimal load damping from the generator, opening up the possibility to design smaller units.

Wave Energy Plants for the Black Sea – Possible Energy Converter Structures

Proceedings of the International Conference on Clean Electrical Power (ICCEP '2007), Capri (Italy), 2007, pp. 306-311

It is crucial for the mankind to develop clean renewable energy sources. Ocean energy is one of the candidates being a huge, yet unexploited renewable energy source on the Earth. Preliminary surveys show that marine power has a potential to supply a significant part of the future energy needs. Hence all the researches done in the field of the wave energy conversion should be of real interest. In this paper the wave energy potential of the Black Sea near the Romanian coasts, a possible power take off system to be set up here, respectively a comparative study on two possible linear generators to be used in such wave energy power converters will be presented.

Study on a wave energy based power system

2008 18th International Conference on Electrical Machines, 2008

Huge quantities of clean energy can be obtained from the waves of the oceans and seas. As wave energy extraction technology is currently in a preliminary state of development any new results in this field should be of real interest. A direct driven wave power conversion system to be placed in the Black Sea near the Romania shores was proposed and analyzed. The paper focuses on its linear generator, respectively on its power electronic and control system.

Ocean Wave Energy Converters: Analysis, Modeling, and Simulation. Some case studies

Renewable energy & power quality journal, 2022

Wave energy has much more potential and benefits than other forms of renewable energy. It is more predictable, consistent, and controllable than wind or solar energy. In this way, an adequate infrastructure can be an alternative and also sustainable system for power supply. In this paper, different wave energy conversion mechanisms (buoys, Pelamis, and oysters) have been described. These models are implemented and simulated using the Design Modeller, ANSYS-AQWA, and WEC-SIM applications. The purpose has been to develop a complete simulation of the wave energy converter and discuss its operation. The analysis has been developed in Matlab-Simulink and both regular and irregular waves have been considered. For this, an approximation to the linear waves theory has been used. The results obtained indicate the energy absorbed from the sea waves and also the energy supplied to the power grid. The simulation results estimated with the different WEC models are comparable to the results shown by other research papers.