Wave Energy Converter Surface Grid to Reduce Subsea Cabling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wave energy converters are typically deployed individually and connected to a subsea power cable via a length of electrical cable equal to the water depth, leading to significant cable usage and resource inefficiency.
Innovation Solution
An interconnected farm of buoyant wave energy converters shares a common electrical grid positioned adjacent to the water surface, using varying gauges of electrical cables to optimize resource consumption and eliminate the need for direct connections to a subsea power cable.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If each converter is tethered to a subsea power cable via individual cables of length equal to water depth, then each converter can be independently connected to power, but the total cable length and resource consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple individual electrical cables that previously extended from each converter to the subsea power cable are merged into a single shared cable. The patent implements this by deploying one cable from the subsea power cable to a surface grid structure, which then distributes power to multiple converters through shorter lateral connections, thereby reducing total cable length while maintaining independent power access for each converter
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a purely vertical cable architecture (each cable extending straight down from surface to subsea) to a hybrid architecture that utilizes the horizontal surface dimension. By establishing a surface grid structure that spans multiple converter locations, the system creates lateral power distribution pathways, effectively adding a horizontal dimension to the previously vertical-only cable layout
2Ease of manufacture
If individual electrical cables of water-depth length are used for each converter, then direct connection to subsea power is achieved, but deployment complexity and installation time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The electrical connection system is segmented into two distinct functional components: a shared vertical cable infrastructure that handles the deep-water connection from subsea to surface, and separate shallow lateral connections that handle the surface-to-converter distribution. This segmentation allows the complex deep-water connection to be established once for the entire farm, while individual converter connections become simpler, faster-to-deploy shallow connections
Solution Approach 2:
The surface grid structure and its associated cable infrastructure are deployed and established as a preliminary infrastructure before individual converters are connected. This preliminary action creates a ready-made power distribution network at the surface, so that when converters are deployed, they can be quickly connected to pre-positioned connection points rather than requiring individual deep-sea cable deployments for each unit
Data Source
AI summary
An energy farm comprising an electrical grid through which power generated by the devices in the farm may be combined and transmitted. The electrical grid is formed through the electrical interconnection of devices in a farm through electrical connections that remain, in whole or at least in part, adjacent to the surface of the body of water on which the devices float. A plurality of converters of the network have no direct or immediate electrical interface with a subsea power cable (i.e. a cable on or under the seafloor), but instead transmit electricity to other converters in a daisy-chained fashion.