Hydraulic Performance of an Innovative Breakwater for Overtopping Wave Energy Conversion

The Overtopping BReakwaterfor Energy Conversion (OBREC) is an overtopping wave energy converter, totally embedded in traditional rubble mound breakwaters. The device consists of a reinforced concrete front reservoir designed with the aim of capturing the wave overtopping in order to produce electricity. The energy is extracted through low head turbines, using the difference between the water levels in the reservoir and the sea water level. This paper analyzes the OBREC hydraulic performances based on physical 2D model tests carried out at Aalborg University (DK). The analysis of the results has led to an improvement in the overall knowledge of the device behavior, completing the main observations from the complementary tests campaign carried out in 2012 in the same wave flume. New prediction formula are presented for wave reflection, the overtopping rate inside the front reservoir and at the rear side of the structure. Such methods have been used to design the first OBREC prototype breakwater in operation since January 2016 at Naples Harbor (Italy).