Exploitation of an operative wave forecast system for energy resource assessment in the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

Ocean Energy is now emerging as a viable long-term form of renewable energy, which might contribute around 10% of EU power demand by 2050, if sufficient support is guaranteed along its road to full commercialization, allowing to further demonstrate the reliability, robustness and overall economic competitiveness of technologies. Although wave energy is still less developed than other marine renewables, its high density, great potential and minimal environmental impact have renewed the interest of developers, investors and governments globally, also in view of the increasing awareness of climate change and of the necessity to reduce carbon emissions. In parallel with technological development, the reliable characterization of wave climate and of the associated energy resource is crucial to the design of efficient Wave Energy Converters and to an effective site-technology matching, especially in low-energy seas. The preliminary scrutiny of suitable technologies and the identification of promising sites for their deployment often rely on wave climatological atlases, yet a more detailed characterization of the local resource is needed to account for high-frequency spatial and temporal variability that significantly impact power generation and the economic viability of WEC farms. We present a high-resolution assessment of the wave energy resource at specific locations in the Mediterranean Sea, based on a 7-years dataset derived from the operative wave forecast system that has been developed at ENEA and has been running since 2013. The selected areas correspond to the target regions of the Blue Deal project, where energy resource estimates were combined with technical and environmental considerations, so as to identify optimal sites for Blue Energy exploitation, from a Maritime Spatial Planning perspective. The available resource at selected sites is analysed together with site theoretical productivity for three state-of-the art WECs, showing interesting potential for future deployment.