Technical and Non-Technical Issues towards the Commercialisation of Wave Energy Converters Technical and Non-Technical Issues towards the Commercialisation of Wave Energy Converters Revised Version PhD Thesis Defended in public at Aalborg University March 15, 2013 Julia Fernandez´ Chozas Department of Civil Engineering, The Faculty of Engineering and Science, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark ISBN 978-87-93102-53-8 (e-book) Published, sold and distributed by: River Publishers Niels Jernes Vej 10 9220 Aalborg Ø Denmark Tel.: +45369953197 www.riverpublishers.com Copyright for this work belongs to the author, River Publishers have the sole right to distribute this work commercially. All rights reserved c 2013 Julia Fern´andez Chozas. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or trans- mitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the Publisher. i “Se queres aprender a rezar, entra no mar” (“If you want to learn how to pray, go to sea”) Portuguese proverb “La mobilité et l’inégalité successive des vagues, après s’être élevées comme des montagnes, s’affaissent l’instant après, entraînant dans leurs mouvements tous les corps qui surnagent, quels que soient leur poids et leur volume. La masse énorme d’un vaisseau de ligne, qu’aucune puissance connue ne serait capable de soulever, obéit cependant au moindre mouvement de l’onde” (“The motion and successive inequality of waves, which after having been elevated like mountains fall away in the following instant, take into their motion all bodies which float on them, regardless their weight or volume. The imposing mass of a vessel, which no other known force is capable of lifting, responds to the slightest wave motions”) Girard father and son, Paris, 1799 “Glendenning … said that much of it would be inaccessible for economic exploitation, as the line extended well north of the Hebrides and transmission became difficult, if not impossible. But that was said in 1977. No one would say it today (1992), when the oil industry has shown that inaccessible areas suddenly become reachable when there is energy to be won” David Ross, Energy from Ocean Waves, 1992 iii Table of Contents Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... v Summary in English ................................................................................................................. vii Dansk resumé ............................................................................................................................ ix Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................................... xi List of abbreviations ................................................................................................................ xiii List of appended papers ............................................................................................................ xv Preface .................................................................................................................................... xvii Chapter I – Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 I.1 General introduction .......................................................................................................... 2 I.2 Structure of the thesis ........................................................................................................ 3 Chapter II – History and prospects of wave energy ................................................................... 5 II.1 Introduction to wave energy ............................................................................................ 6 II.2 Advantages and disadvantages of wave energy ............................................................... 7 II.3 Recommended bibliography to wave energy ................................................................... 8 II.3.1 European projects relevant to the thesis .................................................................... 9 Chapter III – Rationale ............................................................................................................. 13 III.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 14 III.2 State of the art of development programmes ................................................................ 14 III.2.1 Examples of development programmes ................................................................. 17 III.3 Research interest ........................................................................................................... 20 III.3.1 Overview of a proposed wave energy converter development .............................. 21 III.3.2 Research focus ....................................................................................................... 23 Chapter IV – Review of identified issues towards wave energy commercialisation ............... 27 IV.1 Regulatory frameworks .............................................................................................. 28 IV.2 Public opinion on wave energy .................................................................................... 32 IV.3 Performance assessment of wave energy converters ................................................... 35 IV.4 Grid connection and integration of wave energy in European offshore grids .............. 39 IV.5 Diversified renewable systems with wave and offshore wind production ................... 41 IV.6 Wave and wind forecasting and balancing costs .......................................................... 45 IV.7 Economic assessment of wave energy projects ............................................................ 51 v Chapter V – Summary of results .............................................................................................. 55 V.1 Overview of results ........................................................................................................ 56 V.2 Further recommended work ........................................................................................... 60 References ................................................................................................................................ 63 Appendix – Papers enclosed to the thesis ................................................................................ 75 Paper A: State of the Art of Wave Energy in Spain ............................................................. 77 Paper B: Toward Best Practices for Public Acceptability in Wave Energy: Whom, How and When to Address .................................................................................................................. 81 Paper C: Toward Best Practices for Public Acceptability in Wave Energy: Issues Developers Need to Address ................................................................................................ 91 Paper D: Performance Assessment of the Wave Dragon Wave Energy Converter Based on the EquiMar Methodology.................................................................................................. 103 Paper E: Integration of Wave and Offshore Wind Energy in a European Offshore Grid .. 115 Paper F: Combined Production of a full-scale Wave Converter and a full-scale Wind Turbine – a Real Case Study .............................................................................................. 125 Paper G: Predictability of the Power Output of Three Wave Energy Technologies in the Danish North Sea ................................................................................................................ 135 Paper H: Economic Benefit of Combining Wave and Wind Power Productions in Day- Ahead Electricity Markets .................................................................................................. 147 vi Summary in English The thesis “Technical and non-technical issues towards the commercialisation of wave energy converters” elaborates on the necessary steps and on the different difficulties that appear during the development of a wave energy converter (WEC). It focuses on seven key areas which appear when a WEC is going through sea trials. As examined throughout the thesis, all these subjects are of relevance to successfully reach the commercialisation of WECs and need attention from the sector as such, not least from device developers. The thesis is presented in two parts: a main introduction and a collection of papers. The first part provides a brief history of wave energy, introduces the research topic, describes the different disciplines addressed in the thesis and relates them. The eight papers comprise the core part of the work. The papers address the research topic in different ways: from a legal, social, technical and economic viewpoint, and from various WEC development stages. All the analyses are carried out from the perspective of device developers. The understanding of WEC developments has been central to the outline of the thesis, as it has formed the framework of the work. Therefore, the rationale behind the thesis has been firstly, to identify the primary phases that generally appear within the development of a WEC, until it becomes a commercial reality; secondly, within that development, to determine the issues or phases where