Abstract
A small breakwater reproducing a 1:10 scale model of a ocean REWEC3 (Boccotti, [9]) has been realized off the beach of Reggio Calabria. This small scale model has the following sizes: 16.3m (length) x 4.5m (width) x 3.5m (height), and weights about 350tons. A previous experiment, in which the system has been tested without turbine, has been successfully carried out in 2005, showing that the energy absorption can reach up to 100% of the incident energy. This paper describes the experiment in which a small Wells turbine has been installed in the REWEC system aiming to measure the wave energy absorbed by the plant under these new conditions, the performance of the turbine under the action of a randomly varying flow and, finally, to compare the actual production of electric power with the estimates based on numerical simulations. To this purpose a high solidity monoplane unit of 31 cm of diameter without guide vanes, has been chosen. The preliminary results of the experiment, that is still under course when this communication is written, are provided in the work.