IEC TS 62600-1:2020

IEC TS 62600-1 ®
Edition 2.0 2020-06
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATION
colour
inside
Marine energy – Wave, tidal and other water current converters –
Part 1: Vocabulary
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IEC TS 62600-1 ®
Edition 2.0 2020-06
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATION
colour
inside
Marine energy – Wave, tidal and other water current converters –

Part 1: Vocabulary
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 27.140 ISBN 978-2-8322-8112-3

– 2 – IEC TS 62600-1:2020 © IEC 2020
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
INTRODUCTION . 5
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms and definitions . 6
Bibliography . 17

Figure 1 – Six degrees of freedom – Floating device . 8
Figure 2 – Six degrees of freedom – Submerged device . 8
Figure 3 – Equivalent diameter calculations for various projected capture areas . 10
Figure 4 – Principal flow direction . 13

INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
MARINE ENERGY – WAVE, TIDAL AND OTHER
WATER CURRENT CONVERTERS –
Part 1: Vocabulary
FOREWORD
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The main task of IEC technical committees is to prepare International Standards. In
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• the subject is still under technical development or where, for any other reason, there is the
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Technical Specification are subject to review within three years of publication to decide
whether they can be transformed into International Standards.
IEC TS 62600-1 which is a Technical Specification, has been prepared by IEC technical
committee 114: Marine energy – Wave, tidal and other water current converters.

– 4 – IEC TS 62600-1:2020 © IEC 2020
nd st
This 2 edition cancels and replaces the 1 edition published in 2011, and its Amendment 1,
published in 2019. This edition constitutes a technical revision.
This edition includes the following significant technical changes from the previous edition:
a) 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.
b) Thirteen (13) terms considered more general than tidal were moved up from IEC TS
62600-200 and added.
c) Eight (8) terms that were added in Amendment 1 to IEC TS 62600-1 were incorporated
alphabetically.
d) Six (6) additional new terms were added.
The text of this Technical Specification is based on the following documents:
Draft TS Report on voting
114/330/DTS 114/342/RVDTS
Full information on the voting for the approval of this Technical Specification can be found in
the report on voting indicated in the above table.
This document has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
A list of all parts in the IEC 62600 series, published under the general title Marine energy –
Wave, tidal and other water current converters, can be found on the IEC website.
The committee has decided that the contents of this document will remain unchanged until the
stability date indicated on the IEC website under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data related to
the specific document. At this date, the document will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
IMPORTANT – The 'colour inside' logo on the cover page of this publication indicates
that it contains colours which are considered to be useful for the correct
understanding of its contents. Users should therefore print this document using a
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INTRODUCTION
This Technical Specification has been developed as a tool for the international marine energy
community, to assist in creating clarity and understanding. The wave, tidal and water current
energy industry has recently experienced a period of rapid growth and sector development.
With this expansion, it became apparent that a document defining the terms used within the
sector was required. The aim of this document is to present clear and consistent language
that will aid the development of programs, projects, and future standards.
This document lists the terms that the marine energy industry uses. It is an evolving document
that will change as new terms and symbols are added. The terminologies herein have been
harmonized with IEC 60050 and other IEC documents as far as possible. The document does
not constitute a full glossary of terms used in the marine energy community.

– 6 – IEC TS 62600-1:2020 © IEC 2020
MARINE ENERGY – WAVE, TIDAL AND OTHER
WATER CURRENT CONVERTERS –
Part 1: Vocabulary
1 Scope
This part of IEC 62600 defines the terms relevant to marine energy. For the purposes of this
document, sources of ocean and marine renewable energy are taken to include primarily
devices that convert wave, tidal and other water current energy into electrical energy,
although other conversion methods, systems and products are included.
Terms relating to conventional dam and tidal barrage, offshore wind, marine biomass, and
salinity gradient energy conversion are not included in the scope of this document.
This document is intended to provide uniform terminology to facilitate communication between
organizations and individuals in the marine energy industry and those who interact with them.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following
addresses:
• IEC Electropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.org/
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp
3.1
annual energy production
estimate of the total energy production of a device during a one-year period obtained by
applying the device’s power performance characteristics to a relevant energy resource
characterization, assuming 100 % availability
Note 1 to entry: Actual annual energy production is unlikely to exceed this estimate.
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-415:1999, 415-05-09, modified – The definition has been revised to be
generic by replacing "wind turbine generator system" by "device", and by replacing "the power
curve to different reference wind speed frequency distributions at hub height" by "the device’s
power performance characteristics to a relevant energy resource characterization". For clarity,
"obtained" has been added before "by applying". Note 1 to entry has been added.]
3.2
array
one or more groups of marine energy converters
Note 1 to entry: Array spacing is dictated by hydrodynamic considerations and can be very closely packed so as
to constitute a single platform or an arrangement of identical devices.

3.3
availability,
See IEV 192-01-23
3.4
capture width
capture length
power captured by the wave energy converter divided by the
wave power of the incident wave field
3.5
current energy converter
CEC
device that converts energy from water currents to electricity or other useful forms of energy
3.6
cut-in water speed
cut-in water velocity
water speed above which there is power production
Note 1 to entry: The term "cut-in water velocity" is sometimes used in industry, although the concept is in fact
...