Objective
The aim of the study is :
- To establish a common methodology for evaluation of the offshore as well as shoreline wave energy resource, and
- To produce a E.C. Wave Data Catalogue.
The study will address the wave energy potential in the Atlantic and Mediterranean regions. It is envisaged that this research will lead, within the subsequent programme, to the production of an atlas for wave energy in the E.C.
The work produced within the scope of the project Wave Studies and Development of Resource Evaluation Methodology includes a review on the background theory of ocean waves required to deal with resource evaluation as well as on the phenomena involved in and the methods used to calculate the transformation that waves undergo as they approach the coastline through waters of decreasing depth. A review has been made of the types of wave data available in the European Community (EC). A methodology was developed for the assessment of the resource.
The proposed methodology for the evaluation of the offshore wave energy resource in the EC includes the following:
to select a network of EC offshore reference sites, where high quality wave data are available;
to perform comparisons between wind wave model results and measured data;
to gather datasets, of at least 5 years' data, for the chosen reference sites (the construction of a software database will have the advantage of easy updating when more years' data will be available);
to compute adequate wave energy statistics;
to select a representative set of sea states for each reference site.
A methodology for the evaluation of the inshore resource is proposed as follows:
to perform (comparative) runs of adequate computational shallow water model(s) for test sites where simultaneous offshore and inshore datasets exist;
taking the offshore climate at a reference site as input, to calculate the wave climate along any stretch of the European coastline judged to be of wave power interest;
local measurements will worth to be done only for locations selected for the construction of power plants.
This study will be based on a survey of the available information on the characterization of the offshore and onshore wave power resource and on wave data concerning EC countries.
The work programme will include the following tasks :
A. Basic wave properties.
B. Evaluation of shoreline wave conditions from offshore wave data.
C. Wave data catalogue concerning E.C. countries.
D. Methodology for evaluation of the wave energy resource.
Fields of science
Topic(s)
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1699 Lisboa
Portugal