Bode plot of the hydrodynamic admittance of the FOSWEC v2 aft flap. Click the diagram to open full-size image in a new tab.
Numerous studies have shown that advanced control of a wave energy converter (WEC) power take off (PTO) can provide significant increases (on the order of 200-300%) in WEC energy absorption. These increases can in turn lead to reductions in levelized cost of energy (LCOE), both through the increases in energy generation, but also by decreasing loading. Sandia’s Advanced WEC Dynamics and Controls project focuses on transitioning control design approaches from simplified paper studies to application in full-scale devices. By leveraging a wide range of dynamics and controls, robotics, modeling, and testing expertise, this project has delivered on this goal, producing broad dissemination products (webinars, workshops, journal and conference papers, and open-source data sets) and direct benefit to individual WEC developers through numerous industry collaboration projects.
R. G. Coe, G. Bacelli, H. Cho, V Nevarez, F. Wilches-Bernal, “A comparative study on wave prediction for WECs,” (Albuquerque, NM: Sandia National Laboratories, SAND2018-10945, Sept. 2018).
R. G. Coe, G. Bacelli, D. G. Wilson, O. Abdelkhalik, U. A. Korde, R. D. Robinett III, “A comparison of WEC control strategies,” International Journal of Marine Energy, 20, (2017) 45-63.
