Wave farm modelling: harnessing Ireland’s greatest energy resource

Abstract

Wave Energy Converters are being developed worldwide, including by a number of Irish companies, as a sustainable and environmentally-friendly means of generating electricity using the power of the ocean. By 2020 it is envisaged that hundreds of these devices will be deployed off the West Coast of Ireland in arrays known as Wave Farms and connected to the national electricity grid. The focus of my Ph.D. project, being carried out at the Hydraulics and Maritime Research Centre (HMRC) in UCC, is to create realistic models of these Wave Farms so that we can better understand their behaviour and ultimately optimise their performance. Nearly 95% of the electricity consumed in Ireland is generated from fossil fuels such as gas, coal and oil. As reserves of these resources begin to dry up, leading to scarcity of supply and increases in cost, and the environmental concerns about carbon dioxide emissions become more pronounced, ...