scholarly journals Wave energy in the UK: Current scope, challenges and prognostications

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-78
Author(s):  
Saim Memon ◽  
Olatunde Muisdeen Lawal ◽  
Sumair Ahmed Tariq ◽  
Bilal Khalid
Keyword(s):  
Wave Energy ◽  
The Uk

Development of a Novel Floater to Power Take-Off Connection for Wave Energy Converters Based on a Belt-Pulley System

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Kusch ◽  
Mohammad Rahmati ◽  
Jan P. Peckolt ◽  
Jan Pütz ◽  
Julius Schay
Keyword(s):  
Wave Energy ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Commercial Development ◽  
Pulley System ◽  
Design And Optimization ◽  
Wave Energy Converters ◽  
Pulling Force ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Energy Converters

While renewable energy is generally considered to be a well-researched field, wave energy converters (WECs) are still in early industrial stages, for example due to high costs, even though the potential of WECs in countries such as the UK is very high. Apart from the power plant location, the amount of power generated by a wave energy converter is also highly influenced by the efficiency of both the energy transfer from the wave to the plant’s generator and the power take-off (PTO) itself. Improving on any of these aspects therefore increases the power output and economic attractiveness. Based on a commercial development project by the NEMOS GmbH in Germany, this paper presents a more efficient means of connecting a floater and a rotary PTO based on a free traction mechanism consisting of a custom belt and matching pulley. In addition to regular longitudinal forces, the belt system can transfer transversal forces of up to 14 % of its pulling force and allowing run-in angles up to 8°. First tests show an average efficiency to 99.6 % in wet conditions. The paper lays out the theoretical background of the new design and discusses existing alternatives, before detailing the taken approach to design and optimization. The results are validated and compared to an existing rope design and a benchmark flat belt.

The UK wave energy resource

Nature ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 287 (5785) ◽  
pp. 826-828 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. B. Winter
Keyword(s):  
Wave Energy ◽  
Energy Resource ◽  
The Uk

Technologising the wave

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-122
Author(s):  
Marfuga Iskandarova ◽  
Elena Simakova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Wave Energy ◽  
Energy Resource ◽  
Ocean Waves ◽  
Resource Assessment ◽  
Natural Phenomenon ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Carbon Policy ◽  
Marine Energy ◽  
The Uk

Despite the recent shift from renewable energy to a low carbon policy, the UK policy discourse still recognises marine energy as part of the country’s future energy mix. Production of what we call an “assemblage” of technology and ocean waves triggers complex sets of initiatives that provide the basis for the economic viability and credibility of wave energy extraction. However, questions are rarely asked about how the natural phenomenon being part of this assemblage is construed as a resource to become a key element of promises and assessments of potential of renewable energy. This study sheds light on under-explored aspects of the credibility–economy and valuation practices formed around renewable energy that have not yet been problematised in social studies of energy. Arguing that ocean waves become an energy resource largely through resource assessment practices, we examine such practices in the context of the production of scientific and policy discourses around wave energy. Considering waves as an object of expertise, we examine how “wave data” constituted through measurements, statistical analysis, modelling and visualisation, contribute to the assessment and legitimisation of wave energy developments. We also evaluate the prospects for wave energy to be a “good” in future economic exchange.

A Preliminary Assessment of the Competitiveness of Wave Energy Technologies: A Regionally Detailed Analysis

2013 ◽  
Vol 431 ◽  
pp. 356-364
Author(s):  
Takayuki Takeshita
Keyword(s):  
Wave Energy ◽  
Seasonal Variability ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Wave Power ◽  
Global Energy ◽  
Power Sources ◽  
Energy System Model ◽  
Energy Technologies ◽  
The Uk

In this paper, a regionally disaggregated global energy system model treating the electricity supply sector in detail is used to examine the competitiveness of wave energy technologies for each of 48 world regions over the period to 2050 under a constraint of halving global energy-related CO2 emissions in 2050 compared to the 2000 level. It is first found that wave energy continues to be uncompetitive until 2050 due to (1) its high cost and (2) the large seasonal variability of wave power. Even if the reference wave electricity generation costs are assumed to be reduced by 90%, the latter factor severely limits the market penetration of wave energy technologies. It is then found that the UK and Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, Japan, South Africa, the western US, Latin America, Canada, and Spain and Portugal are the regions promising for wave energy deployment. Not only low-cost and abundant wave energy resources, but also the peak electric load in winter, the relatively small seasonal variability of wave power, and/or the low competitiveness of power sources substitutable by wave energy are the reasons for this.

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