Recent developments at CNR-INSEAN on testing and modelling marine renewable energy systems for waves and currents

F. Salvatore, F. Di Felice, L. Fabbri

DOI: 10.12910/EAI2015-043

Hydrodynamic testing centers are nowadays challenged by a continuously increasing demand for studies aimed at the development, verification and assessment of marine renewable energy capturing systems. This paper describes the experience matured over the last years at CNR-INSEAN, the marine technology research Institute of the Italian National Research Council. Originally designed for hydrodynamics testing of marine vehicles, the Institute’s experimental facilities like wave and calm water tanks, circulating water channel, now host testing programs on wave energy converters, marine current turbines and hybrid systems, combining devices to extract energy from different marine sources like waves and winds. Selected case studies are described and main findings are discussed in the paper.

Francesco Salvatore, Fabio Di Felice, Luigi Fabbri - CNR-INSEAN, Italian Maritime Technology Research Center