Ever since I first learned about wave energy during my studies of civil engineering in Germany, I have been very interested in this unique topic and wanted to be a part of it. When I discovered AW-energy, I was really excited about the promising WaveRoller® technology. So, I jumped at the chance to work on this topic and at the same time gain valuable experience abroad during my Erasmus internship in Finland.
With my background in coastal engineering, I am interested in the hydrodynamics and morphodynamics around wave energy converters (WECs). So, I wanted to find out to what extent the reduction of the waves is due to the WECs and whether the WaveRoller® technology could therefore contribute to coastal protection in addition to its sustainable energy production.
With more than a billion people living in coastal areas and already at risk from flooding, coastal protection is essential. As sea levels rise and storm surges become more frequent, this threat will increase and the need for coastal protection will grow. The WaveRoller® could therefore be the perfect solution if it is providing this dual function.
For this purpose, I decided to run hydrodynamic and morphodynamic simulations. As I had never worked with this type of software before, it was quite a challenge to set up the models, run them, find errors, and evaluate the results.
These figures show the significant wave height (Hs) and the difference between the wave field with and without WECs. Using the SNL-SWAN model, I was able to show that the presence of WECs can reduce the significant wave height in the lee of the wave farm by up to 20%.
The morphodynamics of the real test site at Almagreiro beach in Portugal were modelled using the XBeach model. Due to errors in the model, the scope of the analysis was smaller than planned. Nevertheless, the model showed that for a significant wave height of 4.5 m, more sediment could accumulate in the presence of WECs during a 3.2-hour simulation.
I’m very excited about this first study that shows the potential of the WaveRoller® technology for coastal protection and look forward to further studies, which continue the investigations and confirm the results. In the next step, it would be interesting to compare different wave farm layouts to find a good balance between energy output and coastal protection.