The move towards addressing two pertinent energy challenges that is access to electricity and climate change has seen the transition towards sustainable forms of energy including Ocean Based Renewable Energy (OBRE). However, much work remains to be done in understanding the critical success factors that could enable such potential transition, especially in the area of OBRE electricity generation. This research addresses this concern by drawing on transition theory and frameworks to critically evaluate the prospects towards OBRE development in Nigeria. The rationale for the study stems from issues around the inadequate supply of electricity, which has become a profound concern and, where its absence is mostly observed in rural and remote areas including coastal communities. Based on an interpretative philosophical stance, the study adopted a qualitative approach for conducting the research. In-depth semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from twenty-seven research participants. The research findings revealed that there is scope for transitioning towards OBRE electricity generation. However, this potential may be hindered by key features of the incumbent socio-technical regime: inconsistency of statements in formal policy documents; unclear institutional arrangements to foster renewable energy development; and lack of regulatory and market support mechanisms, which keep renewable energy development at the margins. Nevertheless, the study found certain perceived critical success factors that when considered could aid in facilitating OBRE development in Nigeria. These included, in particular, meaningful stakeholder engagement that aimed to harmonise the diverse interests of key actors’ and the role of adequate political governance to facilitate OBRE design and implementation. The research concludes by developing a conceptual intervention model called the OBRE Transition Model. This model argues that through more meaningful engagement with pertinent stakeholders’ and stronger political commitment, the prospect for a transition towards OBRE development in Nigeria could be accomplished. This thesis is the first of its kind to study the prospects for a transition towards OBRE innovation in West Africa. Additionally, the model that has been developed is now going to be corroborated in an OBRE project in Nigeria, thus, forming the evidence on the model’s potential applicability for future study.

Les fermes houlomotrices de seconde génération qui seront déployées dans les années qui viennent seront composées d’un grand nombre de modules identiques mouillés en mer et rapportant au rivage l’électricité produite par câbles sous-marins. Il a été montré que le contrôle des machines houlomotrices permet d’augmenter significativement leur rendement. Cependant, le contrôle optimal d’un système houlomoteur est non causal, i.e. son application nécessite la prévision de la force d’excitation soumise par le champ de vague sur chacun des éléments de la ferme. Les travaux présentés dans ce manuscrit ont consisté à mettre en place une stratégie de contrôle permettant une récupération d’énergie proche de l’optimum théorique en tenant compte des interactions hydrodynamiques liées à la configuration de ferme et permettant de résoudre la non-causalité d’un tel contrôleur en utilisant uniquement l’information contenue dans les vecteurs d’états des machines de la ferme. Dans un premier temps, les équations reliant les différents états des machines de la ferme ont été établies puis ont été utilisées afin d'effectuer une prévision des états sur les corps contrôlés permettant ainsi d’appliquer un contrôle réactif pseudo causal. Afin de contraindre la dynamique des corps et maitriser l’horizon de non causal du contrôleur, une méthode de fenêtrage a été appliquée à l’impédance du contrôleur. À l’aide d’un simulateur temporel développé spécifiquement, une étude de sensibilité a été conduite pour définir les paramètres optimaux et le comportement de la stratégie de contrôle et de son fenêtrage. La robustesse et la performance du contrôleur ont ensuite été évaluées pour différents changements extérieurs comme la dérive des corps, les variations d’orientation de houle, et l’étalement spectral directionnel. L’application de la stratégie de contrôle à une ferme de 10 corps a montré une récupération d’énergie supérieure à 83% de la limite théorique maximale. / The next generation of wave farms will becomposed of a large number of identical devices deployed offshore, which will transfer the retrieved energy to the shore using submarine cables. It hasbeen proven that the control of Wave Energy Converters can improve their efficiency. However, one of the main challenges of WEC control is the noncausality of the optimal controller. Indeed, the time domain application of this kind of control requires the forecast of the excitation force applied by the wavefield on each device of the farm. The work presented in this thesis aimed at developing and assessing a control strategy with an energy efficiency close to the theoretical optimum, taking into account the hydrodynamic interactions between the farm devices, and solving the non-causality issue using the measurements of the states of the device of the array. First, the equations linking the devices’ states within the array have been established and used to performa deterministic forecast of the states of the controlled bodies, which allowed to apply a pseudo-causal reactive control. Moreover, a window function hasbeen applied to the controller impedance in order to constrain the dynamic of the controlled bodies, and also to regulate the non-causal horizon of the controller. Then, using a time domain simulator developed specifically, a sensibility analysis has been performed to define the optimal parameters and the behavior of the controller with the window function.The robustness and the performances of the controller have also been assessed when affected by exterior changes such as device drift, wave orientation modification, and directional spreading of the wave spectrum. The collaborative controlled strategy applied to a farm of 10 devices has shown an energy efficiency over 83% of the theoretical bound.

Le développement des systèmes houlomoteurs ainsi que la gestion du littoral reposent sur une bonne compréhension des mécanismes liés aux interactions houle-structure. Dans cette thèse, nous nous intéressons à l'étude d'un champ de structures flexibles soumises à des ondes de surface, en vue de développer un système qui puisse à la fois atténuer les vagues et absorber l'énergie qui leur est associée de manière efficace. Les résultats présentés se basent autour d'expériences réalisées dans des installations de petite échelle, dans lesquelles la disposition spatiale des objets flexibles est le principal paramètre étudié. Dans un premier temps, nous caractérisons notre champ modèle afin d'évaluer l'influence de divers paramètres (configuration, flexibilité, fréquences des vagues) sur la distribution de l'énergie dans le système. Sur la base de ces résultats, nous développons ensuite un modèle d'interférences permettant de décrire les observations globales du système à partir de paramètres locaux connus, associés à une portion unitaire du champ. Ce modèle nous sert ensuite d'outil pour l'exploration d'une multitude de configurations spatiales, afin de déterminer le choix optimal vis-à-vis de l'atténuation et de l'absorption des vagues incidentes. Enfin, une campagne de mesures supplémentaire est utilisée afin d'expliquer les résultats obtenus avec le modèle et d'identifier les principes sous-jacents à cette optimisation / Understanding the mechanisms involved in wave-structure interactions is of high interest for the development of efficient wave energy harvesters as well as for coastal management. In this thesis, we study the interactions of surface waves with a model array of slender flexible structures, in view of developing an efficient system for both attenuating and harvesting wave energy. The presented results are based around experimental investigations, by means of small scale facilities, in which the spatial arrangement of the flexible objects is the key parameter of study. The model array is first characterised by evaluating the role played by various parameters (configuration, flexibility, wave frequency) on the energy distribution in our system. Following these first observations, an interference model is then developed in order to describe the observed global effects of the array on both the wave field and the blade dynamics, based on known local parameters of a unit item of the array. This model then serves as a tool for exploring many possible array configurations, in order to determine the optimal choice regarding both the attenuation and the absorption of the imposed waves. A final experimental study is presented, in which the key results from the interference model are evaluated and the underlying principles of array optimisation are identified

The search for new solutions for the generation of energy is becoming more and more important for our future. Big arguments and disagreements on e.g. the questions of gas transport or the dependence on energy supplied by other countries raise demands on the development of new forms of alternative energy resources. Wave power is one of the main sources of renewable energy due to the high power density stored in ocean waves. Nevertheless, the dynamic forces of waves are so large that serious questions popped up on how to design a system which could work even in an unfavourable wave climate or could at least retain working capabilities after big storms without significant damages. This thesis studies the reliability of the mechanical parts of a linear direct driven permanent magnet generator. The results of offshore experiment where strain gauge sensors instrumented on the capsule and the inner framework structure are presented. Stress estimation analyses using strain gauges are carried out. A method for measuring forces and moments in the mechanical structure of the WEC is developed. Evaluation of the lateral force acting on the outer structure is a key factor for the design and construction of the WEC. A method for the measurement of the lateral force acting on the capsule has been developed. A study of the inclination angle between the Wave Energy Converter and the floating buoy has been carried out. The aim of this work is to contribute to the development of wave energy conversion system, and especially to the estimation of structural loads which are important for the survivability of the system under hard sea states. This work is a step that may influence future design of wave energy devices in terms of material aspect, survivability in a hard wave climate and cost-effective renewable energies.

The history of Newfoundland is intimately tied to its relationship with the sea, to its island status and its consequent cultural isolation, to its reliance on fishing and more recently oil. But it is also one of tides - of prosperity and loss, migration and resettlement, of occupation and erasure. This research is an investigation into the nature of mutable landscapes – shifting settlements, resources and infrastructures. It is recognized that the needs of each community and the resources of each environment are diverse in type and supply. The spatialization of an energy infrastructure has the opportunity to link, in a dynamic system, the ecological, political, cultural, and historical constituents atomized communities. It has the potential to be a dynamic system that forces a presence in the everyday lives of a cultural habitat. This investigation tests the possibility for a contemporary energy infrastructure, usually hidden from the cultural landscape, to become a physically and culturally pronounced manifestation of a layered historical narrative. This work exhumes histories of Newfoundland and uncovers omnipresent themes of mutability, shifting, movement, and transience, presenting the history of Newfoundland as a fluctuating story of the sea. These stories not only frame the historical spatializations of Newfoundland’s population, its infrastructures, and economies through various media, but they also simultaneously outline the social and economic deficiencies of modern approaches to developing the island. Structured chronologically, the research forms the basis for an investigation into new ideas for an infrastructure off the southern coast of Newfoundland. This design project exemplifies themes of shifting and movement through a mobile, water-based energy, research, and cultural infrastructure. It is situated off the southern coast of Newfoundland and engages both the land and the sea. This thesis does not try to tame, resolve, or control the sea. The sea is always itself, ordered by its own cycles of tides, currents and ecologies. One can really only synchronize the relationships between land and sea.

Liquid sloshing in a 2D tank applied on a wave energy capture system and reducing the oscillation of an offshore platform are discussed in this study. A fully nonlinear time-independent finite difference method and the forth-order Runge-Kutta method are implemented to solve the coupled motions of liquid sloshing in a 2D tank with a floating platform. When the external forcing frequency of the Dynamic Vibration Absorber System composed by a tuned liquid damper and a tuned mass damper is identical to the fundamental frequency of the tank, the external force can be effectively diminished by the sloshing-induced force. In the meantime, the maximum effect of tuned mass damper on reducing the amplitude of the floating platform appears. When the frequency of external forcing is close to the first natural frequency of the liquid tank, the coupled effect between the motions of both the tank and the platform can effectively reduce the vibration of the platform and the total energy of the whole system. The Eigenfrequency of a wave capture system is formed by the coupled effect of a liquid tank and a wave capture system. When the excitation frequency of the wave capture system is near its Eigenfrequency, the sloshing-induced force is much larger than that of external and the maximum displacement of the wave energy capture system occurs. As a result, the wave energy capacity of the wave capture system can be averagely increased to 150% by the influence of liquid sloshing in the tank.

Three semi-permanent cloud bands exist in the Southern Hemisphere extending southeastward from the equator, through the tropics, and into the subtropics. The most prominent of these features occurs in the South Pacific and is referred to as the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ). Similar convergence zones, with less intensity, exist in the South Atlantic (SACZ) and Indian (SICZ) oceans. We attempt to explain the physical mechanisms that promote the diagonal orientation of the SPCZ and the processes that determine the timescales of its variability. It is argued that the slowly varying sea surface temperature patterns produce upper tropospheric wind fields that vary substantially in longitude. Regions where 200 hPa zonal winds decrease with longitude (i.e., negative zonal stretching deformation, or dU/dx<0) reduce the group speed of the eastward propagating synoptic (3-6 day period) Rossby waves and locally increase the wave energy density. Such a region of wave accumulation occurs in the vicinity of the SPCZ, thus providing a physical basis for the diagonal orientation and earlier observations that the zone acts as a "graveyard" of propagating synoptic disturbances. In essence, dU/dx=0 demarks the boundary of the graveyard while regions where dU/dx<0 denote the graveyard itself. Composites of the life cycles of synoptic waves confirm this hypothesis. From the graveyard hypothesis comes a more general theory accounting for the SPCZ's spatial orientation and its longer term variability influenced by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), or alternatively, the changing background SST associated with different phases of ENSO.

This PhD is dedicated to the development of an advanced numerical model for simulating interactions between free surface waves of arbitrary steepness and rigid bodies in high amplitude motions. Based on potential theory, it solves the coupled dynamics of waves and structure with the implicit method by Van Daalen (1993), also named the acceleration potential method by Tanizawa (1995). The precision of this two-dimensional model is tested on a wide range of applications involving the forced motion or free motion of a submerged horizontal cylinder of circular cross-section : diffraction by a fixed cylinder, radiation by a cylinder in specified high amplitude motions, wave absorption by the Bristol cylinder. In each of these applications, numerical results are compared to experimental data or analytical solutions based on the linear wave theory, with a good agreement especially for small amplitude motions of the cylinder and small wave steepnesses. The irregular wave generation by a paddle and the possibility to add an extra circular cylinder are integrated in the model and illustrated on practical applications with simple wave energy converters. The model is finally extended to three dimensions, with preliminary results for a sphere in large amplitude heaving oscillations

The history of Newfoundland is intimately tied to its relationship with the sea, to its island status and its consequent cultural isolation, to its reliance on fishing and more recently oil. But it is also one of tides - of prosperity and loss, migration and resettlement, of occupation and erasure. This research is an investigation into the nature of mutable landscapes – shifting settlements, resources and infrastructures. It is recognized that the needs of each community and the resources of each environment are diverse in type and supply. The spatialization of an energy infrastructure has the opportunity to link, in a dynamic system, the ecological, political, cultural, and historical constituents atomized communities. It has the potential to be a dynamic system that forces a presence in the everyday lives of a cultural habitat. This investigation tests the possibility for a contemporary energy infrastructure, usually hidden from the cultural landscape, to become a physically and culturally pronounced manifestation of a layered historical narrative. This work exhumes histories of Newfoundland and uncovers omnipresent themes of mutability, shifting, movement, and transience, presenting the history of Newfoundland as a fluctuating story of the sea. These stories not only frame the historical spatializations of Newfoundland’s population, its infrastructures, and economies through various media, but they also simultaneously outline the social and economic deficiencies of modern approaches to developing the island. Structured chronologically, the research forms the basis for an investigation into new ideas for an infrastructure off the southern coast of Newfoundland. This design project exemplifies themes of shifting and movement through a mobile, water-based energy, research, and cultural infrastructure. It is situated off the southern coast of Newfoundland and engages both the land and the sea. This thesis does not try to tame, resolve, or control the sea. The sea is always itself, ordered by its own cycles of tides, currents and ecologies. One can really only synchronize the relationships between land and sea.

The motion of ocean waves can be captured and converted into usable electricity. This indicates that wave power has the potential to supply electricity to grids like wind or solar power. A point absorbing wave energy converter (WEC) system has been developed for power production at Uppsala University. This system contains a semi-submerged buoy on the water surface driving a linear synchronous generator placed on the seabed. The concept is to connect many small units together, to form a wave farm for large-scale electricity generation. A lot of effort has gone into researching how to enhance the power absorption from each WEC unit. These improvements are normally done separately for the buoy, the generator or the electrical system, due to the fact that modelling the dynamic behavior of the entire WEC system is complicated and time consuming. Therefore, a quick, yet simple, assessment tool is needed.  This thesis focuses on studying the use of the equivalent circuit as a WEC system modelling tool. Based on the force analysis, the physical elements in an actual WEC system can be converted into electrical components. The interactions between the regular waves, the buoy, and the Power Take-off mechanism can be simulated together in one circuit network. WEC performance indicators like the velocity, the force, and the power can be simulated directly from the circuit model. Furthermore, the annual absorbed electric energy can be estimated if the wave data statistics are known. The linear and non-linear equivalent circuit models developed in this thesis have been validated with full scale offshore experimental results. Comparisons indicate that the simplest linear circuit can predict the absorbed power reasonably well, while it is not so accurate in estimating the peak force in the connection line. The non-linear circuit model generates better estimations in both cases. To encourage researchers from different backgrounds to adapt and apply the circuit model, an instruction on how to establish a non-linear equivalent circuit model is supplied, as well as on how to apply the model to accelerate the decision making process when planning a WEC system.