Wave energy converter: a brief review of WECs technology and some aspects of oscillating wave column converter design

Ocean waves are a huge, largely unexploited energy resource, and the potential for extracting energy from waves is great. Research in this area is driven by the need to meet renewable energy targets, but is relatively immature compared to other renewable energy technologies. This brief review introduces some device types that represent current wave energy converter (WEC) technology. The possible power take-off systems are identified. The review is followed by a consideration of some of the design strategies to enhance the efficiency of an oscillating wave column-type WECs. The considered oscillating wave column (OWC) is a relatively novel multi-chamber technology that need a lot of investigations, starting from fluid-dynamic, up to power electric converter