Experimental Results From an Offshore Wave Energy Converter

An offshore wave energy converter (WEC) was successfully launched at the Swedish west coast in the middle of March 2006. The WEC is based on a permanent magnet linear generator located on the ocean floor driven by a point absorber. A measuring station has been installed on a nearby island where all measurements and experiments on the WEC have been carried out. The output voltage from the generator fluctuates both in amplitude and frequency and must therefore be converted to enable grid connection. In order to study the voltage conversion, the measure station was fitted with a six pulse diode rectifier and a capacitive filter during the autumn of 2006. The object of this paper is to present a detailed description of the existing wave energy system of the Islandsberg project. Special attention will be given to the power absorption by the generator when it is connected to a non linear load.