After the INORE workshop panel discussion, the panel joined the audience, and we broke into several discussion circles. The most interesting point that came out of the group that I joined was a discussion of a point Peter Frigaard had made in the panel session. Peter had mentioned that for wave power, the extreme loads are much greater than the operational design loads – he estimated a factor of 30. I've heard this concern voiced by several people, including Peter Fraenkel. Peter Frigaard pointed out that wind turbines shed loads by pitching their blades once they reach rated wind speed. They also have the option of yawing to reduce loads. In the break-out discussions, Prof Falcão emphasised Peter's point. He spelled out Peter's implicit suggestion: that wave power needs to have some element of adaptable geometry to reduce this gap between operational and extreme loads.
