Floating Oscillating Water Column Wave Energy Converters: A Review of Developments

The main challenge in designing offshore renewable energy structures is to ensure their structural integrity on a life cycle basis while operating in harsh environments and, in parallel, being financially competitive and environmentally friendly concerning other types of energy systems. The Oscillating Water Column (OWC) converters are among the first energy converters to be developed and deployed into the sea due to their relative simplicity of operation and relatively small number of moving parts. This review provides an overview of the recent floating OWC prototypes and projects and the latest research developments in wave energy conversion using the oscillating water column principle. Furthermore, critical structural advances are discussed, mainly focusing on the converter’s geometry and type and its mooring system design towards amplifying the absorbed wave power.