Hydraulic on-shore system recovering energy from sea waves

The authors propose a new system for recovering energy from sea waves. The system is composed of a large-sized buoy (point absorber), directly connected to a piston pump. The piping, developed underground, allows the water to be moved into a pressurized reservoir, which feeds a hydraulic turbine. The latter discharges the flow in a tank where the hydraulic circuit closes. A sizing methodology developed in the present work, demonstrates the possibility of designing miniaturized components by leaving the possibility of providing an acceptable energy output with low installation costs. A preliminary study demonstrates that a 4.5 m buoy, associated with a small 17 cm diameter Pelton, could be able to recover more than 35,000 kWh/year