Hydrodynamic Interactions and Enhanced Energy Harnessing amongst Many WEC Units in Large-Size Wave Parks

Interactions between wave energy converters (WECs) can significantly affect the overall energy-harnessing performance of a wave park. Although large-size wave parks with many WEC units are commonly considered in practical applications, it is challenging to simulate such parks due to huge computational costs. This paper presents a numerical model that uses the boundary element method (BEM) to simulate wave parks. Each wave energy converter (WEC) was modelled as a comprehensive system, including WEC buoys, power take-off, and mooring systems, with hydrodynamic interactions included. Two classical layouts for arranging 16 units were simulated using this numerical model. The energy-harnessing performance of these array layouts was analyzed for both regular waves and a selection of irregular sea state conditions with different wave directions, wave heights, wave periods and water depths. For each layout, three WEC separation distances were studied. An increase of up to 16% in the power performance of the WEC under regular waves was observed, which highlights the importance of interaction effects.