Power smoothing system for wave energy converters by means of a supercapacitor-based energy storage system

One of the main issues of wave energy nowadays is the oscillation of the generated power, which is due to the oscillating nature of the waves. These power fluctuations may have an important undesired impact on the electrical grid. This paper proposes a system that compensates power oscillations in wave energy applications by means of a supercapacitor-based energy storage system. A laboratory test bench is used to emulate wave power oscillations and to partially suppress them. The paper describes the control strategy implemented in the test bench and includes experimental results for regular waves.