This paper presents results from an investigation of global wave energy resources derived from analysis of wave climate predictions generated by the WAVEWATCH-III (NWW3) wind-wave model (Tolman, 2002) spanning the 10 year period from 1997 to 2006. The methodology that was followed to obtain these new results is described in detail. The spatial and temporal variations of the global wave energy resource are presented and described. Several parameters to describe and quantify the temporal variation of wave energy resources are presented and discussed. The new results are also validated through comparisons with energy estimates from buoy data and previous studies.

A global wave energy resource assessment

Variability Assessment and Forecasting of Renewables : A Review for Solar, Wind, Wave and Tidal Resources

Variability assessment and forecasting of renewables: A review for solar, wind, wave and tidal resources

Wave energy potential along the Death Coast (Spain)

Wave energy resource in the Estaca de Bares area (Spain)

Offshore and inshore wave energy assessment: Asturias (N Spain)

This paper presents an Atlas of the European offshore wave energy resource that is being developed within the scope of an European project. It will be mainly based on wave estimates produced by the numerical wind-wave model WAM that is in routine operation at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, Reading, UK. This model was chosen after a preliminary verification of two models again buoy data for a one-year period. Wave measurements will be used for the Norwegian Sea and the North Sea. The Atlas will be produced as a user-friendly software package for MS-DOS microcomputers permitting fast retrieval of information as well as saving and printing of statistics and maps. The Atlas will include annual and seasonal statistics of significant wave height, mean and peak period, mean direction and wave power levels (global values as well as directional distributions). These data will be both presented as tables, graphs and as geographic maps.

An Atlas of the Wave-Energy Resource in Europe

In the last two decades the performance of numerical wind-wave models has improved considerably. Several models have been routinely producing good quality wave estimates globally since the mid-1980s. The verifications of wind-wave models have mainly focused on the evaluation of the error of the significant wave height H{sub s} estimates. However, for wave energy purposes, the main parameters to be assessed are the wave power P{sub w} and the mean (energy) period T{sub e}. Since P{sub w} is proportional to H{sub s}{sup 2}T{sub e}, its expected error is much larger than for the single-wave parameters. This paper summarizes the intercomparison of two wind-wave models against buoy data in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea to select the most suitable one for the construction of an Atlas of the wave energy resource in European waters. A full verification in the two basins of the selected model--the WAM model, implemented in the routine operation of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts--was then performed against buoy and satellite altimeter data. It was found that the WAM model accuracy is very good for offshore locations in the North Atlantic; but for the Mediterranean Sea the results are much less accurate, probably duemore » to a lower quality of the input wind fields.« less

Use of numerical wind-wave models for assessment of the offshore wave energy resource

An efficient method has been developed to compute the wave conditions in sheltered areas from the open sea directional spectrum using a reverse tracing wave ray model with weighted spectral filtering. The results were verified for Porto Cachorro--Azores, surrounded by several islands with an intricate geometry, and for Sines, at the west coast of Portugal. The range of applicability of this type of ray model seems to lie at the transition between the open sea, well represented through large-scale wind-wave models, and the zones close to shore where shallow water wave breaking (not represented in the model) begins to play a dominant and decisive role.

H. Oliveira-Pires

Papers

An Atlas of the Wave-Energy Resource in Europe

Use of numerical wind-wave models for assessment of the offshore wave energy resource

Modeling the Effect of Shelter in the Modification of Waves From the Open Sea to Near-Shore