Wave energy in Europe: current status and perspectives

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Abstract

The progress in wave energy conversion in Europe during the past ten years is reviewed and current activities and initiatives in the wave energy sector at National and Union level are described. Other important activities worldwide are summarized. The technical and economical status in wave energy conversion is outlined and important wave energy developments are presented.

Introduction

The world energy consumption is estimated to rise considerably over the next decades, and in the same period the energy consumption in the European Union will increase by almost a similar rate. Being constantly reminded that traditional methods of energy production are contributing to serious environmental problems the governments of the Member States have seen the urgent need for pollution-free power generation. The energy sector was forced through a renovating process, which sees an opening towards renewable energy. In the dynamic evolution of the renewable energy industry a wave energy industry is emerging. Although the technology is relatively new, and currently not economically competitive with more mature technologies such as wind energy, the interest from governments and industry is steadily increasing. An important feature of sea waves is their high energy density, which is the highest among renewable energy sources.

The idea of converting the energy of ocean surface waves into useful energy forms is not new. There are techniques that were first patented as early as 1799 (Girard & Son, France), and, in addition, references in the technical literature to ideas that prescribe these techniques. Leishman & Scobie [29] have carefully documented the development of wave-powered devices from the first British patent in 1855 up to 1973, when there were already 340 patents. Several configurations of wave energy converters have been designed and tested at model scale in this period, and some have been operated in the sea [46], [34], [73], [56].

In Europe intensive research and development study of wave energy conversion began, however, after the dramatic increase in oil prices in 1973. Different European countries with exploitable wave power resources considered wave energy as a possible source of power supply and introduced support measures and related programmes for wave energy. Several research programmes with government and private support started thenceforth, mainly in the United Kingdom, Portugal, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, aiming at developing industrially exploitable wave power conversion technologies in the medium and long term. The amount of this work is very large and extensive reviews have been made by Shaw [58], Lewis [30], Salter [54], Ross [52], Petroncini [48], Thorpe [68], [69], [70] and others.

The efforts in research and development in wave energy conversion have gained the support of the European Commission, which has, since 1986, been observing the evolution in the wave energy field. The research programmes of the Commission on wave energy effectively started with the fourth Framework Programme in 1994 following successful completion of related studies and preparatory RTD work. Starting in 1993, the Commission supported a series of international conferences in wave energy (Edinburgh, UK, 1993, Lisbon, Portugal, 1995, Patras, Greece, 1998 and Aalborg, Denmark, 2000), which significantly contributed to the stimulation and coordination of the activities carried out throughout Europe within universities, national research centres and industry.

In the last 25 years wave energy has gone through a cyclic process of phases of enthusiasm, disappointment and reconsideration. However, the persistent efforts in R&D, and the experience accumulated during the past years, have constantly improved the performance of wave power techniques and have led today to bringing wave energy closer to commercial exploitation than ever before. Different schemes have proven their applicability on a large scale, under hard operational conditions, and a number of commercial plants are currently being built in Europe, Australia, Israel and elsewhere. Other devices are in the final stage of their R&D phase with certain prospects for successful implementation. Nevertheless, extensive R&D work is continuously required, at both fundamental and application level, in order to improve steadily the performance of the particular technologies and to establish their competitiveness in the global energy market.

Section snippets

General aspects of the utilization of wave energy

Wave energy is derived from the winds as they blow across the oceans, and this energy transfer provides a convenient and natural concentration of wind energy in the water near the free surface. Once created, waves can travel thousands of kilometres with little energy loss. Hence, waves created e.g. on the American side of the Atlantic will travel to the western coast of Europe, supported by the prevailing west winds. The energy fluxes occurring in deep water sea waves can be very large. The

National activities

Research and development on wave energy is underway in several European countries. The engagement in wave energy utilization depends strongly on the available wave energy resource. In countries with high resources, wave power could cover a significant part of the energy demand in the country and even become a primary source of energy. Countries with moderate, though feasible resources, could utilize wave energy supplementary to other available renewable and/or conventional sources of energy.

Activities in other countries

R&D on wave power utilization is conducted in a number of countries outside Europe, as Australia, Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, Sri-Lanka, the U.S.A. and others.

Australia has a large wave power resource of about 100 GW, however the energy demand in many of the regions of Australia is quite low compared to the available resource. Recently, the federal government has awarded to Energetech Australia Pty Ltd and to Ocean Power Technologies grants for

The current economical and technological status of wave energy

Wave power developments must face several difficulties, as a corrosive environment, immense loading in extreme weather conditions, randomness in power input or low transmission frequencies. To be competitive, the design of a wave energy converter has to cope with these difficulties efficiently; this has to be done in an environmentally beneficial and economically reasonable scheme. Starting at the initial idea, the development of a wave energy device undergoes a long-lasting evolution.

Conclusion & perspectives

The sea is a colossal reservoir of energy of particularly high density—the highest among the renewables. The utilization of this energy could cover a significant part of the energy demand in Europe, and, moreover, it could make a substantial contribution to a wide range of the objectives of environmental, social and economic policies of the European Union.

Europe is exposed to one of the most energetic sea areas on the planet, the eastern Atlantic, the importance for Europe in the development of

Acknowledgements

The authors appreciate the comments and helpful suggestions of Dr. Raju Abraham, NIOT, India; Dr. Chiara Boccaletti, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Nucleare e Conversioni di Energia, Italy; Dr. Tom Denniss, Energetech Australia Pty Ltd, Australia; Prof. Stephen Salter, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom and Dr. Yukihisa Washio, JAMSTEC, Japan.

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