A Comparative Analysis of Self-Rectifying Turbines for the Mutriku Oscillating Water Column Energy Plant

Abstract

Oscillating Water Column (OWC) based devices are arising as one of the most promising technologies for wave energy harnessing. However, the most widely used turbine comprising its power take-off (PTO) module, the Wells turbine, presents some drawbacks that require special attention. Notwithstanding different control strategies are being followed to overcome these issues; the use of other self-rectifying turbines could directly achieve this goal at the expense of some extra construction, maintenance, and operation costs. However, these newly developed turbines in turn show diverse behaviours that should be compared for each case. This paper aims to analyse this comparison for the Mutriku wave energy power plant.This work was supported by the MINECO through the Research Project DPI2015-70075-R (MINECO/FEDER, UE) and in part by the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) through PPG17/33. The authors would like to thank the collaboration of the Basque Energy Agency (EVE) through Agreement UPV/EHUEVE23/6/2011, the Spanish National Fusion Laboratory (EURATOM-CIEMAT) through Agreement UPV/EHUCIEMAT08/190, and EUSKAMPUSCampus of International Excellence