Wave energy is a promising renewable resource with a higher energy density than both wind and solar. Waves can travel thousands of kilometers with minimal energy loss, making them more reliable than the previously mentioned alternatives. A device that utilizes wave energy to generate electricity is calleda Wave Energy Converter. The converter studied in this thesis is a non-resonant point absorber, a floating device that absorbs energy through its displacement in the water. An incident wave approaching the converter combined with a latching strategy transforms the wave into a water jet, which emerges as a pulse wave and varies from zero to maximum velocity. The kinetic energy of the water jet gets converted to electricity through a Pelton turbine and a permanent magnet synchronous motor that acts as a generator. The thesis investigates three generator velocity control strategies and two deadtime strategies and aims to answer which strategy yields the best efficiency for the selected wave fields. The strategies strive to maximize the efficiency of the Pelton turbine while minimizing the frictional and electrical losses. The first velocity control approach relies on historical data and computes the average based on the previous wavefield. The second approach maintains a predetermined turbine velocity based on the average jet velocity of each incident wave. Lastly, the third strategy continuously adapts the speed during each jet pulse to maximize the Pelton turbine efficiency. The dead-time strategies refer to the approaches employed between waves. The first approach maintainsa constant generator velocity, reducing the necessary acceleration to match the next incident wave. The second approach freewheels the generator, allowing it to decelerate due to friction losses. During the deceleration, the generator draws no current, but as the next wave arrives it must instead accelerate. Consequently, drawing more current but during a shorter period. The results reveal that there is no significant difference between the two deadtime strategies, but there is a significant difference between the velocity control strategies. Furthermore, the results illustrate the effectiveness of the local averaging method and the adaptive control method, which result in the highest system efficiency. / Vågenergi är en lovande energiresurs som har högre energidensitet än både vind- och solkraft. Vågor kan färdas tusentals kilometer med minimal energiförlust,vilket gör dem mer tillförlitliga än de tidigare nämnda alternativen. En anordning som kan nyttja vågors energi för att generera elektricitet kallas för vågenergiomvandlare. Omvandlaren som studerats i detta arbete är en icke-resonant punktabsorbent,vilket är en flytande anordning som absorberar energi genom dess förflyttning i vattnet. När en kommande våg närmar sig omvandlaren transformeras vågen till en vattenstråle, som framträder som en pulsvåg och varierar mellan noll och maxhastighet, via en styrstrategi vid namn ”latching”. Den kinetiska energin från vattenstrålen omvandlas till elektrisk energi via en Peltonturbin och en synkronmotor som agerar som generator. Det här arbetet undersöker tre hastighetsstyrstrategier samt två mellantidsstrategier för generatorn, och ämnar besvara vilken som är den mest effektiva strategin för en uppsättning vågor. Målet med dessa strategier är att maximera effektiviteten hos Peltonturbinen medan friktions- samt elektriska förluster minimeras. Den första hastighetsstyrstrategin håller en konstant hastighetbaserad på ett medelvärde från ett tidigare vågfält. Den andra strategin hålleren konstant hastighet, vilken anpassas till varje inkommande våg. Den tredje strategin anpassar hastigheten kontinuerligt under pulsvågen för att maximera turbineffektiviteten. Med mellantidsstrategierna menas de styrstrategier som nyttjas mellan vattenpulserna. I den första mellantidsstrategin körs generatorn som motor och håller konstant hastighet, vilket minskar de nödvändiga accelerationerna för att möta kommande vågs referenshastighet. Den andra strategin låter generatorn frihjula, vilket gör att hastigheten faller på grund av friktionsförluster. Under hastighetsminskningen drar generatorn ingen ström, men den måste då istället accelerera när kommande våg anländer. Detta innebär att generatorn kommer att dra mer ström, men under en kortare period. Resultaten avslöjade att det inte var någon signifikant skillnad mellan de två mellantidsstrategierna och att det var en signifikant skillnad mellan hastighetsstyrstrategierna. Resultatet visade att de två metoderna med variabel hastighet gav högre systemeffektivitet än metoden med konstant hastighet.

For the west coast of North America, from northern California to southern Washington, a habitat suitability prediction framework was developed to support wave energy device siting. Concern that wave energy devices may impact the seafloor and benthos has renewed research interest in the distribution of marine benthic invertebrates and factors influencing their distribution. A Bayesian belief network approach was employed for learning species-habitat associations for Rhabdus rectius, a tusk-shaped marine infaunal Mollusk. Environmental variables describing surficial geology and water depth were found to be most influential to the distribution of R. rectius. Water property variables, such as temperature and salinity, were less influential as distribution predictors. Species-habitat associations were used to predict habitat suitability probabilities for R. rectius, which were then mapped over an area of interest along the south-central Oregon coast. Habitat suitability prediction models tested well against data withheld for crossvalidation supporting our conclusion that Bayesian learning extracts useful information available in very small, incomplete data sets and identifies which variables drive habitat suitability for R. rectius. Additionally, Bayesian belief networks are easily updated with new information, quantitative or qualitative, which provides a flexible mechanism for multiple scenario analyses. The prediction framework presented here is a practical tool informing marine spatial planning assessment through visualization of habitat suitability. / Graduation date: 2012

The main focus of this thesis is on the power electronic converter system challenges associated with the grid integration of variable-renewable-energy (VRE) sources like wave, marine current, tidal, wind, solar etc. Wave energy conversion with grid integration is used as the key reference, considering its high energy potential to support the future clean energy requirements and due the availability of a test facility at Uppsala University. The emphasis is on the DC-link power conditioning and grid coupling of direct driven wave energy converters (DDWECs). The DDWEC reflects the random nature of its input energy to its output voltage wave shape. Thereby, it demands for intelligent power conversion techniques to facilitate the grid connection. One option is to improve and adapt an already existing, simple and reliable multilevel power converter technology, using smart control strategies. The proposed WECs to grid interconnection system consists of uncontrolled three-phase rectifiers, three-level boost converter(TLBC) or three-level buck-boost converter (TLBBC) and a three-level neutral point clamped (TLNPC) inverter. A new method for pulse delay control for the active balancing of DC-link capacitor voltages by using TLBC/TLBBC is presented. Duty-ratio and pulse delay control methods are combined for obtaining better voltage regulation at the DC-link and for achieving higher controllability range. The classic voltage balancing problem of the NPC inverter input, is solved efficiently using the above technique. A synchronous current compensator is used for the NPC inverter based grid coupling. Various results from both simulation and hardware testing show that the required power conditioning and power flow control can be obtained from the proposed multilevel multistage converter system. The entire control strategies are implemented in Xilinx Virtex 5 FPGA, inside National Instruments’ CompactRIO system using LabVIEW. A contour based dead-time harmonic analysis method for TLNPC and the possibilities of having various interconnection strategies of WEC-rectifier units to complement the power converter efforts for stabilizing the DC-link, are also presented. An advanced future AC2AC direct power converter system based on Modular multilevel converter (MMC) structure developed at Siemens AG is presented briefly to demonstrate the future trends in this area.

The recent trend in generating energy from the waves has led to several advancements in the methods and the various research is conducted across the world, to study the behaviour of point absorbers on the waves. The point absorbers such as wave buoys are designed to move according to the waves and the generator that is mechanically coupled with the buoys, generate electricity. But these buoys can also be used for measuring important parameters like the force acting on it due to the incident waves and their movement can be tracked to study the effects on the buoy due to the incident waves.  This project, as an extension of a previous work titled ‘Design and Development of a Measurement System to Track the Motion of a Point Absorber’ by Juliana Lüer, focuses on modifying and replacing the controller data acquisition and the communication system. The main aim is to increase the stability of the system and increasing the size of data storage and range of the data transmission. This is done in 3 steps that are as follows: - The Arduino based controller is replaced with an advanced Raspberry Pi based computer called RevPi Compact. - The Secure Digital (SD) card storage is replaced with a solid-state (Universal Serial Bus) USB memory stick with a large capacity. - The Radio Frequency (RF) based data transmission is replaced with a 4G (fourth generation) internet modem. The 60 W solar panels are retained from the previous project. But the Lead-Acid battery is replaced with two Lithium Polymer (Li-Po) batteries of 768 Wh capacity each. This increases the stability of the power source and enables the buoy to stay active for a longer time even when there is no useful solar irradiance for many days. There are two force transducers (strain gauge) to measure the line force and the angular force acting on the buoy. The Ellipse2-D Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) from SBG systems is retained from the previous experiment. This sensor can track the Altitude and Heading Reference (AHRS) data along with the Global Positioning System (GPS) data with high levels of accuracy.  All the data collected are can be tracked instantaneously due to the 4G internet communication protocol and this is enabled by TelenorTM connection and HuaweiTM 4G modem. A copy of these data is also stored in a SanDisk USB memory of 500 GB capacity. The tests are carried out under the laboratory conditions and the outputs are as expected. The whole setup is to be installed in a metallic buoy and to be tested in the Lysekil test site in the future.

Les Energies Marines Renouvelables (EMR) se développent aujourd’hui très vite tant au niveau de la recherche amont que de la R&D, et même des premiers démonstrateurs à la mer. Parmi ces EMR, l'énergie des vagues présente un potentiel particulièrement intéressant. Avec une ressource annuelle brute moyenne estimée à 40 kW/m au large de la côte atlantique, le littoral français est plutôt bien exposé. Mais l’exploitation à grande échelle de cette énergie renouvelable ne sera réalisable et pertinente qu'à condition d'une bonne intégration au réseau électrique (qualité) ainsi que d'une gestion et d'un dimensionnement optimisé au sens du coût sur cycle de vie. Une première solution de génération tout électrique pour un houlogénérateur a d’abord été évaluée dans le cadre de la thèse de Marie RUELLAN menée sur le site de Bretagne du laboratoire SATIE (ENS de Cachan). Ces travaux ont mis en évidence le potentiel de viabilité économique de cette chaîne de conversion et ont permis de poser la question du dimensionnement de l’ensemble convertisseur-machine et de soulever les problèmes associés à la qualité de l’énergie produite. Puis une seconde thèse a été menée par Judicaël AUBRY dans la même équipe de recherche. Elle a consisté, entre autres, en l’étude d’une première solution de traitement des fluctuations de la puissance basée sur un système de stockage par supercondensateurs. Une méthodologie de dimensionnement de l’ensemble convertisseur-machine et de gestion de l’énergie stockée fut également élaborée, mais en découplant le dimensionnement et la gestion de la production d’énergie et de ceux de son système de stockage. Le doctorant devra donc : 1. S’approprier les travaux antérieurs réalisés dans le domaine de la récupération de l’énergie des vagues ainsi que les modèles hydrodynamiques et mécaniques réalisés par notre partenaire : le LHEEA de l’Ecole Centrale de Nantes - 2. Résoudre le problème du couplage entre dimensionnement/gestion de la chaîne de conversion et dimensionnement/gestion du système de stockage. 3. Participer à la réalisation d’un banc test à échelle réduite de la chaine électrique et valider expérimentalement les modèles énergétiques du stockage et des convertisseurs statiques associés - 4. Proposer une méthodologie de dimensionnement de la chaine électrique intégrant le stockage et les lois de contrôle préalablement élaborées 5. Déterminer les gains en termes de capacités de stockage obtenus grâce à la mutualisation de la production (parc de machines) et évaluer l’intérêt d’un stockage centralisé - 6. Analyser l’impact sur le réseau d’une production houlogénérée selon divers scenarii, modèles et outils développés par tous les partenaires dans le cadre du projet QUALIPHE. L’exemple traité sera celui de l’Ile d’Yeu (en collaboration avec le SyDEV. / The work of this PhD thesis deals with the minimization of the per-kWh cost of direct-drive wave energy converter, crucial to the economic feasibility of this technology. Despite the simplicity of such a chain (that should provide a better reliability compared to indirect chain), the conversion principle uses an oscillating system (a heaving buoy for example) that induces significant power fluctuations on the production. Without precautions, such fluctuations can lead to: a low global efficiency, an accelerated aging of the fragile electrical components and a failure to respect power quality constraints. To solve these issues, we firstly study the optimization of the direct drive wave energy converter control in order to increase the global energy efficiency (from wave to grid), considering conversion losses and the limit s from the sizing of an electrical chain (maximum force and power). The results point out the effect of the prediction horizon or the mechanical energy into the objective function. Production profiles allow the study of the flicker constraint (due to grid voltage fluctuations) linked notably to the grid characteristics at the connection point. Other models have also been developed to quantify the aging of the most fragile and highly stressed components, namely the energy storage system used for power smoothing (with super capacitors or electrochemical batteries Li-ion) and power semiconductors.Finally, these aging models are used to optimize key design parameters using life-cycle analysis. Moreover, the sizing of the storage system is co-optimized with the smoothing management.