Using waves to generate electricity

Abstract

In less than a century, electricity has become the cornerstone of our modern society. Thanks to it, living conditions have changed more dramatically in 50 years than in two centuries. However, whereas electricity has provided well-being to billions of people over these past few decades, its ever-growing consumption is more and more threatening us. Climate change, fossil fuel depletion, and security of energy supply are crucial issues to be addressed for our “energy society” to be sustainable. Renewables are considered as a major part of the solution. This article deals with the issues related to integrating wave energy into electrical power systems. The major problem associated with wave energy is its variability. Variability can be observed at several time scales: from the range of seconds (wave-to-wave), to minutes (sea-state to sea-state), to days or months (seasonal variations). However, if wave energy is to be used for generating electricity, electrical networks ...