Impact of long separating distances on the energy production of two interacting wave energy converters

In this paper, wave farms composed of two either surging or heaving wave energy converters are considered. Using a numerical model which takes into account wave interactions, the impact on the absorbed wave power of the separating distance between the two systems and the wave direction is studied. In regular waves, a modified q_mod factor is introduced and it is found to be more relevant than the usual q factor for identifying this impact. Then, it is shown that, asymptotically, the alteration of the energy absorption due to wave interaction effects decreases with the square root of the distance. This is a slow decay, which leads to a still significant modification of the wave energy absorption at long distance (up to 15% at a distance of 2000 m). In irregular waves, it is shown that constructive and destructive effects compensate each other, particularly when considering the mean annual power. It leads to a smaller impact of the wave interactions on the absorbed energy and shorter distances (smaller than 10% for distances greater than 400 m). Finally, conclusions on if wave interactions should be taken into account or not when designing a wave farm are drawn in function of the distance.