Penalba, Markel and Ulazia, Alain and Ibarra-Berastegui, Gabriel and Ringwood, John and Sáenz, Jon
(2018)
Wave energy resource variation off the west coast of Ireland and its impact
on realistic wave energy converters’ power absorption.
Applied Energy, 224.
pp. 205-219.
ISSN 0306-2619
Abstract
Wave energy converters are specifically designed to extract the maximum energy from a given location. To that
end, wave data statistics based on past measures at the given location are commonly used, neglecting any
possible future wave trend. This paper studies the variations of the wave energy resource off the west coast of
Ireland over the 20th century via the atmospheric reanalyses created by the European Centre for Medium-Range
Weather Forecasts. In particular, the European Re-Analysis ERA20 is calibrated via quantile-matching against the
new European Re-Analysis ERA-Interim for the period 1979–2010. In addition, the calibrated ERA20 reanalysis
is validated against buoy measurements in the area of interest. Results show a significant increase of the wave
energy resource along the last century (an increase of over 40%), for which the largest increase is observed
within the last 20 years (an increase of 18% between 1980 and 2000). The paper shows that these variations
considerably affect the power absorption of realistic devices, showing a power surplus of up to 15% within the
lifespan of a wave energy converter. Finally, an increase of extreme events over the last century is also observed,
highlighting its impact on power production due to the need of wave energy converters to switch into survival
mode during extreme events.
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Keywords: |
Wave energy trends; ERA-Interim; ERA-20C; Wave energy converters; Power absorption; Extreme events; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering > Electronic Engineering |
| Item ID: |
13117 |
| Identification Number: |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.04.121 |
| Depositing User: |
Professor John Ringwood
|
| Date Deposited: |
26 Jun 2020 22:15 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
Applied Energy |
| Publisher: |
Elsevier |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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