Development of a transportation and installation concept for floating wave power plants
Brief description
A floating wave power plant was developed at HAW Kiel and manufactured as a prototype in cooperation with the maritime industry. The basic principle of the wave power plant called "Aurelia WINO" corresponds to a bar buoy with a floating body that can move up and down with the waves. Two linear generators are driven by a guide rod via the vertical relative movement between the bar buoy and the float, which ultimately converts the mechanical energy into electrical energy. Initial functional tests were successfully carried out as dry tests at the Kiel shipyard of German Naval Yards, proving the technical feasibility and achieving Technology Readiness Level TRL 5. In future, the prototype is to be tested under real environmental conditions on the high seas at the FINO 3 research platform in the North Sea in order to achieve Technology Readiness Level TRL 7. Funding is to be obtained from the federal government or the EU so that the installation and test operation can take place. However, the concepts for the transportation and installation phase must be developed in advance, as there is no previous experience of this type of floating wave power plant on the high seas. Nevertheless, the BSH has high requirements to fulfill, which necessitate such preliminary work. Temporary installation conditions must be mathematically verified in order to ensure occupational safety. Furthermore, towing tests are planned in the flow and wave laboratory at HAW Kiel in order to ensure buoyancy stability during transportation. The transportation and installation concept is to be developed together with industry partners. In addition, an active ballast system is to be developed and manufactured, which can be used to reduce the skew during the towing process and to set the desired draft of the bar buoy during the installation phase. With the further development of the wave power plant, a further building block for regenerative energy generation is to be created in the long term in order to make a contribution to climate protection, especially in the reduction of CO2 emissions in the energy sector.
