10-Year Wind and Wave Energy Assessment in the North Indian Ocean

Abstract

With increasing energy shortages and global warming, clean and renewable energy sources, such as wind and wave energy, have gained widespread attention. In this study, the third-generation wave model WAVEWATCH-III (WW3) is used to simulate wave height in the North Indian Ocean (NIO), from 2008 to 2017, using the wind data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Renalysis datasets. The simulated results show good correlation with data obtained from altimetry. Analysis of wind and wave energy resources in the NIO is carried out considering energy density, the exploitable energy, the energy density stability, and monthly and seasonal variability indices. The results show that most areas of the NIO have abundant wind energy and at the Somali Waters are rich in wave energy resources, with wind energy densities above 200 W/m2 and wave energy densities above 15 KW/m. The most energy-rich areas are the Somali Waters, the Arabian Sea, and the southern part of the NIO (wind energy density 350–650 W/m2, wave energy density 9–24 KW/m), followed by the Laccadive sea (wind energy density 150–350 W/m2, wave energy density 6–9 KW/m), while the central part of the NIO is relatively poor (wind energy density less than 150 W/m2, wave energy density below 6 KW/m).