Experimental study of an oscillating buoy Wave Energy Converter coupled with a floating breakwater

A new wave energy converter (WEC) system coupled with a floating breakwater is introduced in this paper. To analyse the dynamic performance of the WEC, an experiment device was designed and tested in two different basins. The independent experiment was conducted in a Seakeeping basin which focused on the performance of single WEC and the influence of the reflected wave. In the joint experiment, the WEC device was installed on the floating breakwater, the power generation efficiency and motion of the joint platform was measured in a deepwater offshore engineering basin. A PTO system was used for measuring the power generating efficiency. The following conclusions are drawn from the comparison experiment: (a) The superstition of incident wave and the reflected wave of the floating breakwater could increase the power generation efficiency and the motion of the WEC except some short wave. In several short-wave condition, the overtopping wave impacted on the top of the buoy caused the reducing of the power generation efficiency. (b) The relative motion of the buoy and the floating breakwater is larger than independent experiment condition especially in long wave which increase the power generation efficiency.