Testing a wave energy farm in our shallow water wave basin
As a member of the HYDRALAB-IV consortium, we offer access to research groups to conduct experimental studies in our wave basins.
As a member of the HYDRALAB-IV consortium, we offer access to research groups to conduct experimental studies in our wave basins. One of the projects selected by HYDRALAB’s user selection panel for Transnational Access to our facilities concerns ‘Near-field and far-field effects of a wave energy farm’.
The project, named WECwakes was formulated by researchers from:
- University of Ghent, Belgium
- Aalborg University, Denmark
- The University of Manchester, UK
- Queen’s University Belfast, UK
- The University of Edinburgh, UK
- Ecole Centrale de Nantes – CNRS, France
- EDF R&D, Saint-Venant Laboratory for Hydraulics, France
Our tasks included model set-up, instrumentation and technical support during the execution of the tests.
Tests in a range of wave environments were carried out of arrays of up to 25 point absorbers for different layout configurations and inter WEC spacings. Measurements comprised motions of WEC floater, forces on individual WEC elements and wave characteristics around the WEC farm.
The results obtained from these experimental tests will be very useful to validate and extend the recently developed numerical models, as well as to optimise the geometrical layout of WEC arrays for real applications.
HYDRALAB-IV activities are supported by the European Community’s 7th Framework Programme.
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