This model captures ocean wave power with an Oscillating Water Column (OWC): incoming waves push a trapped air column through a bidirectional Wells turbine into a generator. Total wave power follows P = ρg²H²T/32π (ρ=1025 kg/m³, g=9.81 m/s²), so wave height, period, chamber width and turbine efficiency all combine to determine how much electricity the converter actually produces.
An oscillating water column converter where waves compress and decompress a trapped air pocket, spinning a Wells turbine regardless of flow direction, with live power and capacity-factor statistics.
Adjust Wave height H, Wave period T, OWC width and Turbine efficiency η sliders and watch Wave power, Capture efficiency, Turbine output, Capacity factor and Annual energy update.
A Wells turbine is one of the few turbine designs that spins in the same direction regardless of whether air is flowing in or out — essential for an OWC, since the water column reverses direction every half-wave-cycle.
The formula P = ρg²H²T/32π has H² in it, so doubling wave height quadruples the raw wave power available — this is why storm swells carry vastly more energy than ordinary sea states even at similar periods.
Period enters the formula linearly (not squared), so longer-period swells still carry meaningfully more energy per metre of wave crest, but the effect is proportionally smaller than doubling wave height.
It sets the horizontal extent of the air chamber capturing wave energy — a wider column intercepts more of the wave crest, increasing captured power, but real devices trade this against structural cost and diminishing returns per extra metre.
Not all incoming wave energy is captured by the chamber (Capture efficiency), and the Wells turbine itself converts pneumatic power to electricity at less than 100% (Turbine efficiency η) — the two loss stages multiply, so Turbine output is always a fraction of the theoretical Wave power.
Turbine output is the power at this instant, but real ocean waves vary constantly. Capacity factor expresses average output as a percentage of the turbine's rated maximum, which is what actually determines the Annual energy a wave farm can be expected to deliver.