 Wave power for La Isla BonitaG. Iglesias and R. Carballo Energy, 2010, vol. 35, issue 12, 5013-5021 Abstract: The island of La Palma (Spain), dubbed La Isla Bonita for its beauty, is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in the Atlantic Ocean. The island’s authorities are aiming for energy self-sufficiency based on wave energy and other renewables. In this research its wave resource is investigated using a 44-years hindcast dataset obtained through numerical modelling and validated with wave buoy records. First, its distribution around La Palma is studied. Significant variations are found, with the largest resource occurring off the north and northwest coasts; the northwest presents operational advantages (proximity to a port). Second, the seasonal variations in this area are studied. Wave energy is provided essentially by powerful NNW-NW swells in winter and autumn, by less energetic NNE-N waves in summer and spring. Finally, the resource is characterised in terms of sea states; it is found that the bulk of the energy is provided by waves between 9.5 s and 13.5 s of energy period and 1.5 m and 3.5 m of significant wave height, so the selection of the Wave Energy Converters to be installed should guarantee maximum efficiency in these ranges. Keywords: Wave energy; Wave power; Wave model; Atmospheric model; Numerical model; La Palma (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:35:y:2010:i:12:p:5013-5021 DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2010.08.020 Access Statistics for this article Energy is currently edited by Henrik Lund and Mark J. Kaiser More articles in Energy from Elsevier |
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