Marine energy resources could be crucial in meeting the increased demand for clean electricity. To enable the use of marine energy resources, developing efficient and durable offshore electrical systems is vital. Currently, there are no large-scale commercial projects with marine energy resources, and the question of how to design such electrical systems is still not settled. A natural starting point in investigating this is to draw on experiences and research from offshore wind power. This article reviews different collection grid topologies and key components for AC and DC grid structures. The review covers aspects such as the type of components, operation and estimated costs of commercially available components. A DC collection grid can be especially suitable for offshore marine energy resources, since the transmission losses are expected to be lower, and the electrical components could possibly be made smaller. Therefore, five DC collection grid topologies are proposed and qualitatively evaluated for marine energy resources using submerged and non-submerged marine energy converters. The properties, advantages and disadvantages of the proposed topologies are discussed, and it is concluded that a suitable electrical system for a marine energy farm will most surely be based on a site-specific techno-economic analysis.

The power delivered by a voltage source inverter needs to be filtered to fulfill grid code requirements. A commonly used filter technology is the LCL-filter. An issue with the LCL-filter is the occurrence of a resonance peak, which can be mitigated with active or passive damping methods. The transfer function of the filter is often used to investigate the frequency response of the system and propose damping methods. The use of an LC-filter combined with a power transformer to form an LCL-filter has not been extensively investigated. Therefore, the study in this article introduces a model for an LC-filter and power transformer for the grid connection and a derived transfer function for the model. The transfer function for the system is validated with simulations and experimental investigations. The results from simulations and the results from a direct solution of the derived analytical function overlap almost perfectly. The magnitudes of the experimental results are approximately 1 dB lower than the simulation and analytical results before the resonance frequency. At the resonance frequency, the experimental results are approximately 13.4 dB lower. The resonance frequency, however, occurs at approximately the same frequency. It is also concluded that the system is significantly damped.

Important questions to enable the use of marine current energy are how the electrical system is designed, how multiple energy converters are interconnected offshore and how the power is transmitted to the shore. The Division of Electricity at Uppsala University have constructed and deployed a marine current energy converter in the river Daläven in Söderfors, Sweden. In the study presented in this article, a model of a near-shore low-voltage AC collection grid and a near-shore low-voltage DC collection grid is presented for the technology at the Söderfors test site. The models are implemented in MATLAB/Simulink. For collection grids of five turbines, it is shown that the proposed control schemes are able to deliver power to the distribution grid. The controllers are able to achieve this even when one turbine is suddenly disconnected from the grid. Furthermore, it is shown that the conduction losses of the DC system are higher than the losses of the AC system for nominal and high water speeds. However, in a qualitative comparison between the systems it is concluded that despite the higher losses, the DC system can be an interesting option. This is because fewer components need to be placed in the turbine, which is beneficial in offshore systems where space is a limiting factor. Furthermore, a DC system can be less expensive since fewer cables are needed.

Marine current power is attracting more attention as a renewable energy option. Similar to wind power, marine current power often requires a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) method to optimize power extraction from the free‐flowing water. Research into MPPT methods for marine current power remains limited. Therefore, this paper presents a comprehensive investigation of MPPT methods for marine current power, building upon similar research in wind power. Three methods, namely the optimal tip speed ratio (OTSR), optimal torque (OT), and two variants of the perturb and observe (P&O) method, are explored. Using a simulation model developed for a specific marine current energy converter, where hydrodynamic calculations are coupled with electrical simulations, the study demonstrates that the OTSR method achieves MPPT with a comparably fast convergence time. After a change in water speed, the OTSR method achieves optimal operation within two turbine rotations. Additionally, the P&O methods are shown to achieve MPPT, albeit with a significantly longer convergence time. However, the P&O methods can be more convenient since no model of the system is required, and no water speed measurements are necessary. The proposed implementation of the OT method underperforms but positions the system close to the optimal operational point.