There is extensive literature on wave energy. A brief review of references is presented, that describes the wave energy resource, technologies, conversion systems and developments. Further references can be found in Publications.
A grasp of past developments on wave energy and its evolution to the current stage can be obtained by reading the three following books. Ross (1995) summarises the development of the United Kingdom wave energy sector until 1991, including the initial stages of the sector, different projects developments and achievements and political decisions around wave energy. Cruz (2008) compiles a global view on wave energy projects, including the developments of Pelamis, Wave Dragon, Archimedes Wave Swing (AWS) and LIMPET Oscillating Water Column (OWC), as well as some of theory behind wave harnessing. Lastly, Waters (2008) provides a comprehensive and understandable description of wave energy principles and explains the development of the Seabased WEC with special focus on the electric part. Furthermore, a broad overview of the wave energy sector can be gained through Wavenet (2003).
Latest estimates on global wave energy resources are provided by Mørk et al. (2010), while Nielsen and Pontes (2010) summarise the wave conditions at different locations.
McCormick (1981) describes and discusses nine wave energy conversion techniques from a physical and a mathematical approach. A comprehensive review of the state of the art of WECs, which includes testing stage, company information and WECs features, can be found in HMRC (2009) and an update to that report can be found in Nielsen (2012), which summarises the latest technology developments, current projects and a list of companies involved in the sector. Those reports can be complemented by the information provided in Previsic (2010). Then, CSIRO (2012) draws a comprehensive comparison among various WECs in Australian waters.
The energy conversion process, from waves to electrical energy, covers the absorption of the energy in the waves, its conversion by the Power Take-Off (PTO) system and application of control strategies. An overall overview of the conversion mechanisms and the characteristics of the steps are described by Salter et al. (2002). The understanding of the waves and how they interact with the absorbing body is the main focus of Falnes (2005), which also serves as good reference for control theory. With regard to PTO systems Mueller et al. (2007) focus on the main characteristics of the different PTOs, i.e. air turbines, hydraulic systems, water turbines and direct drive generation. In particular, Falcão (2004) concentrates on the self-rectifying air turbine of OWCs, Henderson (2005) describes the hydraulic technology of Pelamis, Knapp (2005) focuses on Wave Dragon’s water turbines and Polinder et al. (2004) discuss direct drive conversion for the AWS. The recently published book by the Hydraulics and Maritime Research Centre (HMRC) on electrical systems covers the electrical systems and connections of WECs into the grid (Alcorn and O’Sullivan, 2013).
Finally, structural design for WECs is described by Journée and Massie (2001), and mooring systems are covered by Fitzgerald and Bergdahl (2007).
Continue exploring about wave energy: Relevant European projects dealing with wave energy
References:
Alcorn R. and O’Sullivan D. (2013). “Electrical Design for Ocean Wave and Tidal Energy Systems”, Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).Cruz J. (2008). “Ocean Wave Energy – Current Status and Futures Perspectives”. Springer.
CSIRO. (2012). “Ocean renewable energy: 2012-2050: An analysis of ocean energy in Australia”. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).
Falcão A. F. (2004). “First-generation wave power plants: current status and R&D requirements”. Transactions of the ASME, Vol. 126, pp. 384-388.
Falnes J. (2005). “Ocean waves and oscillating systems: linear interactions including wave energy extraction”. Cambridge University Press.
Fitzgerald J. and Bergdahl L. (2007). “Considering Mooring Cables for Offshore Wave Energy Converters”, in Proceedings of the 7th European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference (EWTEC). Porto.
Henderson. (2005). “Design, simulation, and testing of a novel hydraulic power take-off system for the Pelamis wave energy converter”. Edinburgh: Ocean Power Delivery Ltd.
HMRC. (2009). “State of the art analysis”. Deliverable 2.1 to Waveplam Project, HMRC, University Cork.
Journée J. and Massie W. (2001). “Offshore Hydromechanics”. Delft University of Technology.
Knapp W. (2005). “Water Turbines for Overtopping Wave Energy Converters”, in Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop of the Coordinated Action on Ocean Energy (CA-OE). Uppsala.
McCormick M. (1981). “Ocean wave energy conversion”. John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Mueller M., Polinder H. and Baker N. (2007). “Current and novel electrical generator technology for wave energy converters”. International Electric Machines and Drives Conference.
Mørk G., Barstow S., Kabuth A. and Pontes T. (2010). “Assessing the Global Wave Energy Potential”, in Proceedings of the 29th International Conference on Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering (ASME). Shanghai.
Nielsen K. (2012). “Ocean Energy Technology Study”. DanWEC; Technical Report No.1 for The Alliance for Offshore Renewables.
Nielsen K. and Pontes T. (2010). “Generic and Site-related Wave Energy Data”. Annex II. Task 1.1 International Energy Agency Ocean Energy Systems (IEA-OES).
Polinder H., Damen M. and Gardner F. (2004). “Linear PM generator system for wave energy conversion in the AWS”, in IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, Vol. 19 (3).
Previsic M. (2010). “Deployment Effects of Marine Renewable Energy Technologies – Wave Energy Scenarios”. Prepared by RE Vision Consulting, LLC on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy.
Ross D. (1995). “Power from the waves”. Oxford University Press.
Salter S., Taylor J. and Caldwell N. (2002). “Power conversion mechanisms for wave energy”. Engineering for the Maritime Environment, Vol. 126.
Soerensen H.C. and Fernández-Chozas J. (2010). “The Potential for Wave Energy in the North Sea”, in Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Ocean Energy (ICOE). Bilbao.
Waters R. (2008). “Energy from ocean waves. Full scale experimental verification of a wave energy converter”. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis Uppsala.
Wavenet. (2003). “Final report of the European Thematic Network on Wave Energy”. Wavenet report.
WEC. (2010). Survey of Energy Resources. World Energy Council (WEC).