Ulazia, Alain and Penalba, Markel and Ibarra-Berastegui, Gabriel and Ringwood, John and Sáenz, Jon (2019) Reduction of the capture width of wave energy converters due to long-term seasonal wave energy trends. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 113 (109267). ISSN 1364-0321

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Abstract

This paper presents a pioneering attempt to evaluate the impact of long-term seasonal wave energy trends on hydrodynamic capture by wave energy converters (WECs) over the 20th century. The ERA20c reanalysis generated by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts is calibrated against the ERA-Interim reanalysis via the quantile matching technique, and validated against buoy measurements across the Northeast Atlantic Ocean. The study focus is the seasonal variation of wave resources over the 20th century, so the calibration is performed using seasonally classified reanalysis and measured data. Results show that wave energy flux increased to 3 and 2 kW/m per decade in winter and spring/autumn, respectively, and that the frequency of off-limit events, defined as sea-states with significant wave height of over 5 m, has doubled over the 20th century. The impact of such wave energy trends is analysed in this paper using an oscillating wave surge converter, which shows steadily increasing power absorption over the 20th century. However, as a result of higher decadal trends and the increase in off-limit events, the hydrodynamic efficiency of the WEC, referred to as the capture width ratio, decreases up to 20%.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Funding: The authors with the Centre for Ocean Energy Research in Maynooth University are supported by the Science Foundation Ireland under Grant No. 13/IA/1886. This work was also supported by grant CGL2016-76561-R, MINECO/ERDF, UE. Additional funding was received from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU, GIU17/ 002). Cite as: Alain Ulazia, Markel Penalba, Gabriel Ibarra-Berastegui, John Ringwood, Jon Sáenz, Reduction of the capture width of wave energy converters due to long-term seasonal wave energy trends, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Volume 113, 2019, 109267, ISSN 1364-0321, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2019.109267.
Keywords:	Wave energy variability; Capture width ratio; ERA-20C; Wave energy conversion; Seasonality;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Science and Engineering > Electronic Engineering Faculty of Science and Engineering > Research Institutes > Centre for Ocean Energy Research
Item ID:	14297
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2019.109267
Depositing User:	Professor John Ringwood
Date Deposited:	01 Apr 2021 13:31
Journal or Publication Title:	Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
Publisher:	Elsevier
Refereed:	Yes
Funders:	Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), European Regional Development Fund, University of the Basque Country
URI:	Publisher
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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