The progress in wave energy conversion in Europe during the past ten years is reviewed and current activities and initiatives in the wave energy sector at National and Union level are described. Other important activities worldwide are summarized. The technical and econ

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Wave energy in Europe: current status and perspectives

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)

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 absence of long term wave data collected at a site of interest, the calculation of reliable wave statistics at a coastal site requires various data sets to be assembled, including temporal long term representative directional wave data offshore of the site, in addition to bathymetric and coastline data. Further, a suitable wave model, capable of modelling the transfer of the offshore conditions to the site, is required, incorporating the relevant shallow water wave phenomena. WORLDWAVES simplifies and speeds up the modelling of wave conditions in coastal waters by integrating the following under a single Matlab toolbox: High quality long-term wave data offshore all global coasts; worldwide bathymetric and coastline data; SWAN and backward raytracing wave models; sophisticated offshore and nearshore wave statistics toolboxes with tabular and graphical presentations, including a facility to export ASCII time series data at offshore or inshore locations; a geographic module with easy zooming to any area worldwide; tools to set up model grids and display and edit bathymetry and coastline; a facility for the import of user offshore data and export of inshore time series data. In this paper we describe the design and implementation of WorldWaves including the fusion of satellite, model and buoy wave and wind data in the global offshore database and the new raytracing model.

WORLDWAVES : Fusion of Data from Many Sources in a User-friendly Software Package for Timely Calculation of Wave Statistics in Global Coastal Waters.

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

We describe herein the basic objectives and structure of the MAST project Eurowaves. The purpose of the project is to integrate, on a European scale, high quality offshore wave statistics with appropriate coastal numerical wave models and geographical and bathymetric information, to allow a relatively inexperienced user to obtain a detailed statistical description of the ocean wave climate at any nearshore location in European waters. The Eurowaves toolbox will cover the entire Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, the Baltic and the Barents Seas. Eurowaves blends existing data of various origins and from different disciplines into an extensive background data base with user-friendly and sophisticated modelling and analysis software tools, with the aim to make high quality wave information available to a larger group of users than is the case today and at lower cost.

Eurowaves: a User-Friendly Approach to the Evaluation of Nearshore Wave Conditions

The demand for reliable information on wave conditions, in particular at coastal sites, is increasing. WorldWaves is a newly completed software package, developed by Fugro OCEANOR with funding from industry and within the framework of various European Commission sponsored contracts, notably EnviWave. The system simplifies the modelling of wave conditions in coastal waters, resulting in more timely, lower cost but reliable data. Thus, WorldWaves should be particularly beneficial in developing countries. In WorldWaves, the following are integrated under a single Matlab toolbox: · High quality long-term wave data offshore all global coasts. · Global bathymetric and coastline data. · Two shallow water wave models: SWAN, a third generation wave model and a backward ray-tracing model. · Sophisticated offshore and nearshore wave statistics toolboxes. · A geographic module allowing the user to easily zoom in on geographic maps together with tools to assist the user in setting up the model grid. · A bathymetry editing tool allowing easy editing of the bathymetric data. · A facility allowing users to easily import their own offshore wave data In this paper, we describe the role of satellite wave measurements in enhancing the quality of the final product with examples and applications from South America

Steve Barstow

Papers

An Atlas of the Wave-Energy Resource in Europe

WORLDWAVES : Fusion of Data from Many Sources in a User-friendly Software Package for Timely Calculation of Wave Statistics in Global Coastal Waters.

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

Eurowaves: a User-Friendly Approach to the Evaluation of Nearshore Wave Conditions

Use of satellite wave data in the worldwaves project