Current Issues Facing the Wave Energy Industry

There are many obstacles that the ocean wave energy industry has overcome since its infancy, 35 years ago. However, many more issues have arisen during this period that must be addressed before wave energy devices can compete with conventional renewables, such as solar and wind. These issues can be organized by certain parameters of the ocean wave, including amplitude, frequency, power and variability. The first full-scale commercial wave energy device, developed by Pelamis Wave Power (PWP), is discussed. The analysis in this paper shows how PWP engineers have overcome many engineering challenges to deploy full scale devices in the open ocean