TC 114 - Marine energy - Wave, tidal and other water current converters

IEC TS 62600-101:2024 establishes a system for estimating, analysing and reporting the wave energy resource at sites potentially suitable for the installation of Wave Energy Converters (WECs). This document is to be applied at all stages of site assessment, from initial investigations to detailed project design. This document is to be applied in conjunction with the IEC Technical Specification on WEC performance (IEC TS 62600-100) to estimate the mean annual energy production of a WEC or WEC array as described in the methodology in Annex A. This document is not intended for estimation of extreme wave conditions. The framework and methodologies prescribed in this document are intended to ensure that only adequate models are used, and that they are applied in an appropriate manner to ensure confidence and consistency in the reported results. Moreover, the document prescribes methods for analysing metocean data (including the data generated by modelling) in order to properly quantify and characterize the temporal and spatial attributes of the wave energy resource, and for reporting the results of a resource assessment in a comprehensive and consistent manner.

IEC TS 62600-100:2024 applied in conjunction with the IEC Technical Specification on wave energy resource assessment and characterization (IEC TS 62600-101), provides a method for estimation of the mean annual energy production of a WEC, assessing the electrical power production performance of a single, non-array, wave energy converter, at Location 2 based on the performance at Location 1.
The scope of this document includes:
a) All wave energy converters that produce electrical power from wave energy.
b) All sea resource zones (near and offshore, deep and shallow water).
c) Capture width matrix transposition from one location to another.
d) Limitation on the changes that are allowed to the WEC and the specification of the location.
e) Wave data required at Location 2, as a minimum the requirements found in IEC TS 62600‑101.
f) Development of the capture width matrix at Location 2.
g) Validation of the capture width matrix at Location 2.
h) Assessment of uncertainties in the derived performance parameters at Location 2.
i) Requirements for the allowable power performance transfer by geometric, kinematic and dynamic similarity.
j) Requirements for the allowable incorporation of additional empirical model data.
k) Requirements for the allowable incorporation of additional numerical model data.
l) The document applies to commercial scale wave energy converters that are:
- compliantly moored.
- tautly moored.
- bottom mounted.
- shore mounted.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2012. This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition:
a) Incorporation of IEC TS 62600-102 as a series of annexes in this document.
b) Removal of the computation of annual energy production. This has been moved to IEC TS 62600-101.
c) Modification to the list of terms definitions, symbols and units.
d) Modification of the reporting section to align with IEC TS 62600-200.

IEC TS 62600-103:2024 is concerned with the sub-prototype scale development of wave energy converters (WECs). It includes wave tank test programmes, where wave conditions are controlled so they can be scheduled, and first sea trials, where sea states occur naturally and the programmes are adjusted and flexible to accommodate the conditions. Commercial-scale prototype tests are not covered in this document.
This document addresses:
- Planning an experimental programme, including a design statement, technical drawings, facility selection, site data and other inputs as specified in Clause 5.
- Device characterisation, including the physical device model, PTO components and mooring arrangements where appropriate.
- Environment characterisation, concerning either the tank testing facility or the sea deployment site, depending on the stage of development.
- Specification of specific test goals, including power conversion performance, device motions, device loads and device survival.
This document prescribes the minimum test programmes that form the basis of a structured technology development schedule. For each testing campaign, the prerequisites, goals and minimum test plans are specified. This document serves a wide audience of wave energy stakeholders, including device developers and their technical advisors; government agencies and funding councils; test centres and certification bodies; private investors; and environmental regulators and NGOs.

IEC TS 62600-202:2022 specifies the development stages of Tidal Energy Converters up to the pre-prototype scale (Stages 1 to 3). It includes the hydraulic laboratory test programs, where environmental conditions are controlled so they can be scheduled, and the first scaled system open-water trials, where combinations of tidal currents, wind and waves occur naturally and the programs are adjusted and flexible to accommodate these conditions. This document describes the minimum test programs that form the basis of a structured technology development schedule. For each testing campaign, the prerequisites, goals and minimum test plans are specified. This document addresses:
a: Planning an experimental program, including a design statement, technical drawings, selection of scale and facility based on physical laws, site data and other inputs; b: Device representation and characterization, including the physical device model, power-take-off components, foundation and mooring arrangements where appropriate; c: Energy resource and environment characterization, concerning either the tank testing facility or the open-water deployment site, depending on the stage of development; d: Specification of explicit test goals, including power conversion performance and device loads.

IEC TS 62600-10:2021 provide uniform methodologies for the design and assessment of mooring systems for floating Marine Energy Converters (MECs) (as defined in the TC 114 scope). It is intended to be applied at various stages, from mooring system assessment to design, installation and maintenance of floating Marine Energy Converters plants.
This document is applicable to mooring systems for floating Marine Energy Converters units of any size or type in any open water conditions. Some aspects of the mooring system design process are more detailed in existing and well-established mooring standards. The intent of this document is to highlight the different requirements of Marine Energy Converters and not duplicate existing standards or processes. This document defines rules and assessment procedures for the design, installation and maintenance of mooring system with respect to technical requirements for floating marine energy converters.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2015. This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition:
a. Added specific Design Load Cases in alignment with 62600-2.
b. Added additional robustness check requirements.
c. Rearranged document for ease of use and alignment with 62600-2.
d. Added additional informative clauses on mooring materials.

IEC TS 62600-4:2020 specifies the requirements of the technology qualification process for marine renewable technologies. Technology Qualification is a process of providing evidence and arguments to support claims that the technology under assessment will function reliably in a target operating environment within specific limits and with an acceptable level of confidence.
The Technology Qualification process is also assumed in IEC TS 62600-2:2019.
The objective of this document is to provide the necessary practices and technical requirements, regarding technology qualification methodology, to support the needs of the IECRE certification process for marine renewables energy systems. Technology Qualification may be performed at the beginning of the certification process to identify the uncertainties, novelties, and modes of failure, mechanisms of failure, risks and risk control measures. In addition, Technology Qualification will identify the standards that are applicable, to what extent and what adaptation to the technology is required to address the risks. The Technology Qualification Plan is the deliverable arising from this process and it will provide all necessary actions to achieve certification.

IEC TS 62600-3:2020 describes the measurement of mechanical loads on hydrodynamic marine energy converters such as wave, tidal and other water current converters (including river current converters) for the purpose of load simulation model validation and certification. This document contains the requirements and recommendations for the measurement of mechanical loads for such activities as site selection, measurand selection, data acquisition, calibration, data verification, measurement load cases, capture matrix, post-processing, uncertainty determination and reporting.
This document also defines the requirements for full-scale structural testing of subsystems or parts with a special focus on full-scale structural testing of marine energy converter rotor blades and for the interpretation and evaluation of achieved test results. This document focuses on aspects of testing related to an evaluation of the structural integrity of the blade. The purpose of the tests is to confirm to an acceptable level of probability that the whole installed production of a blade type fulfils the design assumptions.

IEC TS 62600-2:2019 provides design requirements to ensure the engineering integrity of wave, ocean, tidal and river current energy converters, collectively referred to as marine energy converters. Its purpose is to provide an appropriate level of protection against damage from all hazards that may lead to catastrophic failure of the MEC structural, mechanical, electrical or control systems.
This document provides requirements for MEC main structure, appendages, seabed interface, mechanical systems and electrical systems as they pertain to the viability of the device under site-specific environmental conditions. This document applies to MECs that are either floating or fixed to the seafloor or shore and are unmanned during operational periods.
In addition to environmental conditions, this document addresses design conditions (normal operation, operation with fault, parked, etc.); design categories (normal, extreme, abnormal and transport); and limit states (serviceability, ultimate, fatigue and accidental) using a limit state design methodology. This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2016.
This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition:
a) The second edition sets forth design conditions unique to marine energy converters.

IEC TS 62600-301:2019 provides:
· Methodologies that ensure consistency and accuracy in the determination of the theoretical river energy resource at sites that may be suitable for the installation of River Energy Converters (RECs);
· Methodologies for producing a standard current speed distribution based on measured, historical, or numerical data, or a combination thereof, to be used in conjunction with an appropriate river energy power performance assessment;
· Allowable data collection methods and/or modelling techniques; and
· A framework for reporting results.
The document explicitly excludes:
· Technical or practical resource assessments;
· Resource characterisation;
· Power performance assessment of river energy converters; and
· Environmental impact studies, assessments, or similar.

IEC TS 62600-300:2019 provides:
· A systematic methodology for evaluating the power performance of river current energy converters (RECs) that produce electricity for utility scale and localized grids;
· A definition of river energy converter rated capacity and rated water speed;
· A methodology for the production of power curves for the river energy converters in consideration; and
· A framework for the reporting of results.
Exclusions from the scope of this document are as follows:
· RECs that provide forms of energy other than electrical energy unless the other form is an intermediary step that is converted into electricity by the river energy converter;
· Resource assessment, that will be addressed separately in the River Energy Resource Assessment Technical Specification;
· Scaling of any measured or derived results;
· Power quality issues;
· Any type of performance other than power and energy performance; and
· The combined effect of multiple river energy converter arrays.

IEC TS 62600-20:2019 establishes general principles for design assessment of OTEC plants. The goal is to describe the design and assessment requirements of OTEC plants used for stable power generation under various conditions. This electricity may be used for utility supply or production of other energy carriers. The intended audience is developers, engineers, bankers, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, finance authorities and regulators.
This document is applicable to land-based (i.e. onshore), shelf-mounted (i.e. nearshore seabed mounted) and floating OTEC systems. For land-based systems the scope of this document ends at the main power export cable suitable for connection to the grid. For shelf-mounted and floating systems, the scope of this document normally ends at the main power export cable where it connects to the electrical grid.
This document is general and focuses on the OTEC specific or unique components of the power plant, particularly the marine aspects of the warm and cold water intake systems. Other established standards are referenced to address common components between the OTEC system and other types of power plants and floating, deep water oil and gas production vessels, such as FPSOs and FLNG systems. Relevant standards are listed within this document as appropriate.

IEC TS 62600-40:2019 provides uniform methodologies to consistently characterize the sound produced by the operation of marine energy converters that generate electricity, including wave, current, and ocean thermal energy conversion. This document does not include the characterization of sound associated with installation, maintenance, or decommissioning of these converters, nor does it establish thresholds for determining environmental impacts. Characterization refers to received levels of sound at particular ranges, depths, and orientations to a marine energy converter.
The scope of this document encompasses methods and instrumentation to characterize sound near marine energy converters, as well as the presentation of this information for use by regulatory agencies, industry, and researchers. Guidance is given for instrumentation calibration, deployment methods around specific types of marine energy converters, analysis procedures, and reporting requirements.
This document is applicable to characterization of sound from individual converters and arrays. This document primarily describes measurement procedures for individual converters, with extension to arrays discussed in informative Annex.

IEC/TS 62600-1:2011(E) defines the terms relevant to ocean and marine renewable energy. For the purposes of this Technical Specification, sources of ocean and marine renewable energy are taken to include wave, tidal current, and other water current energy converters. This Technical Specification is intended to provide uniform terminology to facilitate communication between organizations and individuals in the marine renewable energy industry and those who interact with them.

IEC TS 62600-30:2018(E) includes: definition and specification of the quantities to be determined for characterizing the power quality of a marine energy (wave, tidal and other water current) converter unit; measurement procedures for quantifying the characteristics of a marine energy (wave, tidal and other water current) converter.
The measurement procedures are valid for a single marine energy converter (MEC) unit (or farm) with three-phase grid or an off-grid connection. The measurement procedures are valid for any size of MEC unit.

IEC TS 62600-103:2018(E) is concerned with the sub-prototype scale development of wave energy converters. It includes the wave tank test programmes, where wave conditions are controlled so they can be scheduled, and the first large-scale sea trials, where sea states occur naturally and the programmes are adjusted and flexible to accommodate the conditions. This document describes the minimum test programmes that form the basis of a structured technology development schedule. For each testing campaign, the prerequisites, goals and minimum test plans are specified.

IEC TS 62600-2:2016(E) provides the essential design requirements to ensure the engineering integrity of wave, tidal and other water current energy converters, referred to as marine energy converters (MECs), for a specified design life. Provides an appropriate level of protection against damage from all hazards that may lead to failure of the primary structure, defined as the collective system comprising the structural elements, foundation, mooring and anchors, piles, and device buoyancy designed to resist global loads. Includes requirements for subsystems of MECs such as control and protection mechanisms, internal electrical systems, mechanical systems and mooring systems as they pertain to the structural viability of the device under site-specific external environmental conditions. This document applies to wave, tidal and other water current converters and to structures that are either floating or fixed to the seafloor or shore. This document applies to structures that are unmanned during operational periods. This document addresses site-specific conditions, safety factors for critical structures and structural interfaces, external load cases, failure probability and failure consequences for critical structures and structural interfaces, and failsafe design practices.

IEC TS 62600-102:2016(E) describes the required methods and the required conditions to determine the power performance of the Wave Energy Converter 2 (WEC 2) in Location 2, possibly at a different scale and with configuration changes to accommodate the new site conditions, in all cases based on measured power performance of WEC 1 in Location 1. This technical specification allows for assessment at Location 1 or Location 2 based on limited/incomplete data material, as long as this is accompanied by a validated numerical model or physical model and assessment of the uncertainty involved. Another key element is transparency in the assessment.

IEC TS 62600-101:2015(E) establishes a system for estimating, analysing and reporting the wave energy resource at sites potentially suitable for the installation of Wave Energy Converters (WECs). This Technical Specification is to be applied at all stages of site assessment from initial investigations to detailed project design. In conjunction with IEC TS 62600-100 (WEC performance) it enables an estimate of the annual energy production of a WEC or WEC array to be calculated.

IEC TS 62600-201:2015(E) establishes a system for analysing and reporting, through estimation or direct measurement, the theoretical tidal current energy resource in oceanic areas including estuaries (to the limit of tidal influence) that may be suitable for the installation of arrays of Tidal Energy Converters (TECs). It is intended to be applied at various stages of project lifecycle to provide suitably accurate estimates of the tidal resource to enable the arrays' projected annual energy production to be calculated at each TEC location in conjunction with IEC 62600-200.

IEC TS 62600-10:2015(E) provides uniform methodologies for the design and assessment of mooring systems for floating MECs. It is intended to be applied at various stages, from mooring system assessment to design, installation and maintenance of floating MEC plants. Is applicable to mooring systems for floating MEC units of any size or type in any open water conditions. The intent of this technical specification is to highlight the different requirements of MECs.

IEC/TS 62600-200:2013(E) provides the following items:
- a systematic methodology for evaluating the power performance of tidal current energy converters (TECs) that produce electricity for utility scale and localized grids;
- a definition of TEC rated power and rated water velocity;
- a methodology for the production of the power curves for the TECs in consideration;
- a framework for the reporting of results.

IEC/TS 62600-100:2012(E) provides a method for assessing the electrical power production performance of a Wave Energy Converter (WEC), based on the performance at a testing site. Provides a systematic method which includes:
- measurement of WEC power output in a range of sea states;
- WEC power matrix development;
- an agreed framework for reporting the results of power and wave measurements.
The contents of the corrigendum of April 2017 have been included in this copy.

IEC TS 62600-1:2020 defines the terms relevant to ocean and marine renewable energy. For the purposes of this Technical Specification, sources of ocean and marine renewable energy are taken to include wave, tidal current, and other water current energy converters. This Technical Specification is intended to provide uniform terminology to facilitate communication between organizations and individuals in the marine renewable energy industry and those who interact with them.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2011, and its Amendment 1, published in 2019. This edition includes the following significant technical changes from the previous edition:
- Approximately 45 % of the original terms which were either not in use, used only in a glossary sense, or which are commonly understood and found in other references were removed.
- Thirteen (13) terms considered more general than tidal were moved up from IEC TS 62600-200 and added.
- Eight (8) terms that were added in Amendment 1 to IEC TS 62600-1 were incorporated alphabetically.
- Six (6) additional new terms were added.