Author(s): R. Carballo; N. Arean; M. Alvarez; A. Castro; M. Lopez; G. Iglesias

Linked Author(s): Manuel Álvarez Chaves, Patricia Molina López

Keywords: Wave energy converter; Coastal management; Wave resource assessment; WEDGE tool

Abstract: The exploitation of the wave energy resource in a coastal region should be based on the selection of the most appropriate wave energy converter and location for installing a wave farm. In this work a tool for conducting such a selection is presented. The installation of a wave farm in a coastal region should consider different aspects, based on which an informed decision-making can be performed. More specifically, the wave energy converter (WEC) and location providing the largest performance should be identified, which in addition needs to be compatible with an integrated coastal management. Over the last years a huge amount of information regarding the characteristics of the wave energy resource has been produced. Unfortunately, the data required for conducting accurate performance computations at sites of interest for wave energy exploitation is not usually available. In addition, the locations considered for wave farm operation should not pose a threat to the existing coastal uses and the environment, aspects which are usually not considered. In this context, new tools providing this information throughout coastal regions of interest need to be developed, on which the decision-making for wave farm installation should be founded. With this in view, in this work, a new tool, WEDGE®, is presented. The tool is capable of automatically reconstructing the wave resource in the required form for accurate computations of energy production and other performance parameters of any WEC at any site of interest, which in turn can be selected based on an integrated coastal management approach. The interest of this tool is shown through a case study in the Galician coast (NW Spain), where several wave farm projects have been recently proposed.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3850/978-981-11-2731-1_057-cd

Year: 2018