As the world transitions to renewable electrification to reduce CO2 emissions, remote island electrification remains a challenge. Although some islands are connected to the grid, many still rely on fossil fuels for electricity generation. Several studies indicate that renewable energy sources, such as wave energy, have the potential to make these islands self-reliant because of their substantial power potential. However, research on the control of power electronics converters for these systems remains limited. This paper proposes isolated grid-forming control for island electrification to address this gap using a wave energy converter and an energy storage system. Resistive loading control is implemented to optimize the power absorption of the generator. The result illustrates the establishment of the required AC voltage and 50 Hz frequency in the island load, ensuring harmonics compliance with the recommended standards. Experiments were conducted to test and validate the operation of different converter controls. The results also demonstrate the converter's ability to black-start the island load and automatically transition the load current with varying loads in a few milliseconds. Furthermore, the power quality produced by the wave energy converter presents one of its significant challenges. Therefore, the performance of two distinct converter technologies was compared. The performance of the IGBT converter was evaluated against that of the SiC-based converter in terms of power quality. The study demonstrates that the use of SiC enhances power quality in all switching frequencies tested, achieving the most significant reduction of 78% in current THD and 92% in voltage THD at the 25 kHz switching frequency, thus validating its advantages for wave energy converter applications. ... Read more

Decarbonization of ports is a major goal to reduce their global carbon footprint. The port of Hvide Sande is located on the coast of the North Sea in Denmark and it has the potential to utilize various renewable energy sources. Wind and solar thermal parks are already installed there. Wave energy is an alternative to solar and wind energies and its advantage is the spatial concentration, predictability, and persistence. Heat to the town is provided by Hvide Sande Fjernvarme. In this work, it is investigated if the heat demand could be fully covered by renewable energies. Power profiles for each renewable energy resource were calculated using 30 years of re-analysis environmental data. Long, mid, and short term time series of power supply has been statistically and quantitatively examined. Considering the heat demand of Hvide Sande, the lowest frequency of zero occurrence in power generation can be ensured by the combination of wind, solar energy and wave. The article also estimated the capacity for Lithium-ion batteries. The optimal size of the battery is found by the bisection method. Finally, different combinations of renewable energy and demand as well as batteries are evaluated. The lowest zero occurrences in power production is met by the mix of three renewable energies. Also, the mix of three renewable energies significantly reduces the value of energy, required from the battery. ... Read more

This paper proposes and analyzes a genetic algorithm based permutation control logic applied to the aggregator of an offshore multi-source park. The energy losses at the common coupling point are accounted for in the feedback. This paper focuses on offshore distributed energy resources, such as floating photovoltaic (PV), wind, and wave power. The main contributions of this research are the development of a control system that is capable of tracking the set-point imposed by the demand curve for each source individually, the introduction of a capacity factor for combined offshore floating PV/wind/wave power farms, and the unveiling of pure offshore renewable sources as potential storage-less flexibility service providers. The results of a case study for a site near San Francisco showed that energy losses and capacity factors are positively influenced by implementing the proposed approach.
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Growing energy demand has increased interest in marine renewable energy resources, i.e. wave energy which is harvested through Wave Energy Converter (WEC) Arrays.
However, the wave energy industry is currently at a significant juncture in its development, facing a number of challenges which require that research re-focuses on a holistic techno-economic perspective, where economics consider the full life-cycle costs of the technology. It also requires development of WECs suitable for niche markets, because in Europe there are inequalities regarding wave energy resources, wave energy companies, national programmes and investments. As a result, in Europe there are leading and non-leading countries in wave energy technology. The sector also needs to increase confidence of potential investors by reducing (non-)technological risks. This can be achieved through an interdisciplinary approach by involving engineers, economists, environmental scientists, legislation, governmental bodies and policy experts. Consequently, the wave energy sector needs to receive the necessary attention compared to other more advanced and commercial ocean energy technologies (e.g. offshore wind).
The formation of the first open pan-European Network on an interdisciplinary approach will contribute to largescale WEC Array deployment by dealing with the current bottlenecks. The WECANet European COST Action, introduced in September 2018 and presented in this paper, aims at a collaborative and inclusive approach, as it provides a strong networking platform that also creates the space for dialogue between all stakeholders in wave energy. An important characteristic of the Action is that participation is open to all parties interested and active in the development of wave energy. Previous activities organised by WECANet core group members have resulted in a number of joint European projects and scientific publications. WECANet’s main target is the equal research, training, networking, collaboration and funding opportunities for all researchers and professionals, regardless of age, gender and country in order to obtain understanding in the main challenges governing the development of the wave energy sector. ... Read more