Potential wave energy production by different wave energy converters aroundSicily

The performance of several WaveEnergyConverter devicesis evaluated at three sites located on the west side of Sicily. To select the mostenergetic site, the average potential waveenergyalong the coasts of Sicily is evaluated by adopting a third-generation spectralwave propagationmodel usingas boundar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of renewable and sustainable energy 2015-11, Vol.7 (6)
Main Authors: Iuppa, C, Cavallaro, L, Foti, E, Vicinanza, D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Capacity factor
Converters
Wave power
Weather forecasting
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The performance of several WaveEnergyConverter devicesis evaluated at three sites located on the west side of Sicily. To select the mostenergetic site, the average potential waveenergyalong the coasts of Sicily is evaluated by adopting a third-generation spectralwave propagationmodel usingas boundaryconditions the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecastsoperational archivewave and winddata. The most energetic sites are on the western side of Sicily. In the three hotspotsidentified, the mean energy flux is within the range of 5.33–7.52 kW/m. The analysis showsthat all considered devices have a low capacity factor in their original configurations(2.19%–5.12%). The main causes of the poor results in terms of energy production arerelated to the fact that such devices are optimized for high-energy waves. A resizing of thedevices on thebasis of the local wave climate showed that a capacity factor that exceeds 30% could beobtained.
ISSN:1941-7012