The US Department of Energy is hold a wave power workshop in Scotland later this month on wave energy converter system requirements and performance metrics.
The goal of the workshop is to reach out to the wider wave energy community to facilitate input into the important specification of WEC system requirements and the formulation of performance metrics.
Both the specification of system requirements and the definition of performance metrics are of crucial importance to the successful development of wave energy converter technology.
The system requirement specification spells out the wave energy problem statement of the functions that the technology has to fulfill in all its life phases and under the corresponding environmental conditions. Its correct formulation and close adherence to this ensure that the processes of invention, development, design, build and operation are on target and deliver high value WEC technology.
Appropriate performance metrics are required at all stages of the development in order to be able to assess the techno-economic performance potential of a given WEC technology when fully developed and operated under commercial conditions. This enables:
- Identification of the value of technology under development and across different WEC archetypes,
- Technology development decisions and system optimization to best increase technology value,
- Targeted allocation of public funds and private investment towards the best technology solutions.
The programme for the workshop is still being finalist – it is being co-organised in Edinburgh with the Wave Energy Scotland quango – but Henry Jeffrey, from Edinburgh University’s Institute of Energy Systems is a confirmed speaker.
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