Economic Assessment of Overtopping BReakwater for Energy Conversion (OBREC): A Case Study in Western Australia

Pasquale Contestabile, Enrico Di Lauro, Mariano Buccino and Diego Vicinanza
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Pasquale Contestabile: Department of Civil Engineering, Design, Building and Environment, Second University of Napoli, via Roma, 29, 81031 Aversa (Caserta), Italy
Enrico Di Lauro: Department of Civil Engineering, Design, Building and Environment, Second University of Napoli, via Roma, 29, 81031 Aversa (Caserta), Italy
Mariano Buccino: Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Napoli Federico II, via Claudio, 21, 80125 Napoli, Italy
Diego Vicinanza: Department of Civil Engineering, Design, Building and Environment, Second University of Napoli, via Roma, 29, 81031 Aversa (Caserta), Italy

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-28

Abstract: This paper constructs an optimal configuration assessment, in terms of the financial returns, of the Overtopping BReakwater for wave Energy Conversion (OBREC). This technology represents a hybrid wave energy harvester, totally embedded in traditional rubble mound breakwaters. Nine case studies along the southern coast of Western Australia have been analysed. The technique provides tips on how to estimate the quality of the investments, for benchmarking with different turbine strategy layouts and overlapping with the costs of traditional rubble mound breakwaters. Analyses of the offshore and nearshore wave climate have been studied by a high resolution coastal propagation model, forced with wave data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Inshore wave conditions have been used to quantify the exploitable resources. It has been demonstrated that the optimal investment strategy is nonlinearly dependent on potential electricity production due to outer technical constraints. The work emphasizes the importance of integrating energy production predictions in an economic decision framework for prioritizing adaptation investments.

Keywords: wave energy resource; Western Australia; economic optimization; green ports (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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