The Ocean Grazer is a conceptual energy collection platform, projected to house several

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

generation modules, including

wave energy Wave power is the capture of energy of wind waves to do useful work – for example, electricity generation, desalination, or pumping water. A machine that exploits wave power is a wave energy converter (WEC). Waves are generated primarily by w ...

solar energy Solar energy is the radiant energy from the Sun's sunlight, light and heat, which can be harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating) and solar architecture. It is a ...

and

wind energy Wind power is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. Historically, wind power was used by sails, windmills and windpumps, but today it is mostly used to generate electricity. This article deals only with wind power for electricity ...

. The development of the Ocean Grazer platform has been carried out by the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; , abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, th ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, since 2014, and now by a spin-out company Ocean Grazer BV. The concept of the platform is currently on its version 3.0 centering on the

modular design Modular design, or modularity in design, is a design principle that subdivides a system into smaller parts called ''modules'' (such as modular process skids), which can be independently created, modified, replaced, or exchanged with other modules ...

as opposed to the massiveness of the platform, as in the previous concepts. The majority of the harvested energy for all concepts is to be delivered by a

wave energy converter Wave power is the capture of energy of wind waves to do useful work – for example, electricity generation, desalination, or pumping water. A machine that exploits wave power is a wave energy converter (WEC). Waves are generated primarily by wi ...

that uses the motion of

ocean surface wave In fluid dynamics, a wind wave, or wind-generated water wave, is a surface wave that occurs on the free surface of Body of water, bodies of water as a result of the wind blowing over the water's surface. The contact distance in the wind directi ...

s to generate

electrical energy Electrical energy is the energy transferred as electric charges move between points with different electric potential, that is, as they move across a voltage, potential difference. As electric potential is lost or gained, work is done changing the ...

. The company has also developed the Ocean Battery, which is a modular subsea

pumped-storage hydroelectricity Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing (electrical power), load balancing. A PSH system stores energy i ...

system. Unveiled in 2021, the technology can be deployed around

offshore wind farms Offshore wind power or offshore wind energy is the generation of electricity through wind farms in bodies of water, usually at sea. There are higher wind speeds offshore than on land, so offshore farms generate more electricity per amount of ca ...

or floating solar, to store excess power generated.

Energy converter operation

The operating principle of the Ocean Grazer energy converter is to store

potential energy In physics, potential energy is the energy of an object or system due to the body's position relative to other objects, or the configuration of its particles. The energy is equal to the work done against any restoring forces, such as gravity ...

by creating a

hydraulic head Hydraulic head or piezometric head is a measurement related to liquid pressure (normalized by specific weight) and the liquid elevation above a vertical datum., 410 pages. See pp. 43–44., 650 pages. See p. 22, eq.3.2a. It is usually meas ...

, due to the differences in

pressure Pressure (symbol: ''p'' or ''P'') is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure (also spelled ''gage'' pressure)The preferred spelling varies by country and eve ...

between two

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

s. All three concepts rely on this principle to function. The hydraulic head is created by circulating internal fluid from the lower to the upper reservoir via a novel hydro-mechanical power take off system, composed of distributed and coupled

floaters Floaters or eye floaters are sometimes visible deposits (e.g., the shadows of tiny structures of protein or other cell debris projected onto the retina) within the Human eye, eye's vitreous humour ("the vitreous"), which is normally transparent, ...

. Each floater is linked to a separate multi-piston

pump A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes Slurry, slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic or pneumatic energy. Mechanical pumps serve in a wide range of application ...

ing system, consisting of differently sized pistons that regulate the amount of pumped fluid and that can be adapted to the surface wave conditions.

Check valve A check valve, non-return valve, reflux valve, retention valve, foot valve, or one-way valve is a valve that normally allows fluid (liquid or gas) to flow through it in only one direction. Check valves are two-port valves, meaning they have ...

systems are needed to minimize the back flow when the pistons return to their resting position. Lastly, similar to a

hydroelectric plant Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and also mo ...

, once enough fluid has been stored in the upper reservoir it can be circulated through a turbine system to generate electrical energy.

Potential

There are advantages in using a device like the Ocean Grazer energy converter, such as: * Renewable, clean energy production from ocean surface waves. * The adaptability of the device with respect to the incoming wave conditions, granted by the different pumping settings in the power take off system. * The storage capabilities offered by the device, allowing to generate electrical energy with a controllable output as in hydroelectric plants. * The

and

scalability Scalability is the property of a system to handle a growing amount of work. One definition for software systems specifies that this may be done by adding resources to the system. In an economic context, a scalable business model implies that ...

(concept 2.0 onward).

Challenges

There are also disadvantages in using a device like the Ocean Grazer energy converter, namely: * The installation, manufacture and production are difficult and expensive. * The connection to the

electricity grid An electrical grid (or electricity network) is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids consist of power stations, electrical substations to step voltage up or down, electric power trans ...

is still an open problem, a suitable solution to deliver the generated electrical energy needs to be developed. * The moving parts, pumping systems and turbine systems in the device can create

noise pollution Noise pollution, or sound pollution, is the propagation of noise or sound with potential harmful effects on humans and animals. The source of outdoor noise worldwide is mainly caused by machines, transport and propagation systems.Senate Publi ...

and disrupt the habitat of different marine species.{{Cite book, title=Ocean wave energy : current status and future perspectives, date=2008, publisher=Springer, editor=Cruz, João, isbn=978-3540748946, location=Berlin, oclc=233973506

References

Wave energy converters Renewable energy in the Netherlands University of Groningen

Energy converter operation

Potential

Challenges

See also

References