Creating the pathway for standardized performance assessment of Canadian wave energy converters

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The West Coast of Canada has a very energetic wave climate with a typical average annual wave power transport of 34.5 MW/km along the Vancouver Island coastline. While the magnitude of this resource suggests potential for a new wave energy industry, there is no consensus on Wave Energy Converter (WEC) design or operational strategies, and it is unclear to what extent the Canadian wave energy resource can be harnessed. Without an accurate and precise assessment of Canada's feasible wave energy production potential , there is no well-defined benefit to balance the well-defined technical and economic challenges facing this new industry. Detailed numerical and experimental studies that precisely define the performance of promising WECs in Canadian waters are sorely needed. In the proposed CRD program, comprehensive Vancouver Island wave resource data, advanced resource assessment techniques and world class simulation software developed at UVic will be refined and applied in comprehensive siting and performance assessment analyses for a Canadian WEC technology developer - Accumulated Ocean Energy (AOE). The AOE technology relies on cascaded pneumatic accumulation, executed in series over several WEC units, to produce relatively smooth electrical power. However, the coupled WEC dynamics drastically complicate the system analysis and demand a high-fidelity modelling approach. The proposed project's siting and performance assessment exercises will be the first of their kind in Canada, will rely on high fidelity computer simulations and will precisely define the performance of the AOE technology in Canadian waters while leaving no ecological footprint. The predominantly numerical approach used in the CRD project drastically curtails the design iterations required by AOE, reduces AOE's future scale model testing costs and is at the leading edge of a worldwide shift towards rigorous application of high fidelity computationaal modelling tools to build technology performance level early in the development process.