Assessment of wave energy resources in Hawaii

Hawaii is subject to direct approach of swells from distant storms as well as seas generated by trade winds passing through the islands. The archipelago creates a localized weather system that modifies the wave energy resources from the far field. We implement a nested computational grid along the m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Renewable energy 2011-02, Vol.36 (2), p.554-567
Main Authors: Stopa, Justin E., Cheung, Kwok Fai, Chen, Yi-Leng
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Assessments
case studies
Chains
Climatology
Economic data
Energy
Energy economics
Energy of waters: ocean thermal energy, wave and tidal energy, etc
energy resources
Exact sciences and technology
Far fields
General, economic and professional studies
Islands
Mathematical models
Mesoscale model
model validation
Natural energy
Ocean observing system
Spectral wave model
storms
trade winds
water waves
Wave energy
Wave power
Waves in Hawaii
Weather
Wind power generation
wind speed
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Summary:Hawaii is subject to direct approach of swells from distant storms as well as seas generated by trade winds passing through the islands. The archipelago creates a localized weather system that modifies the wave energy resources from the far field. We implement a nested computational grid along the major Hawaiian Islands in the global WaveWatch3 (WW3) model and utilize the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model to provide high-resolution mesoscale wind forcing over the Hawaii region. Two hindcast case studies representative of the year-round conditions provide a quantitative assessment of the regional wind and wave patterns as well as the wave energy resources along the Hawaiian Island chain. These events of approximately two weeks each have a range of wind speeds, ground swells, and wind waves for validation of the model system with satellite and buoy measurements. The results demonstrate the wave energy potential in Hawaii waters. While the episodic swell events have enormous power reaching 60 kW/m, the wind waves, augmented by the local weather, provide a consistent energy resource of 15–25 kW/m throughout the year.
ISSN:0960-1481
1879-0682
DOI:10.1016/j.renene.2010.07.014