Wave Energy in Brittany (France)—Resource Assessment and WEC Performances

Nicolas Guillou (), George Lavidas and Bahareh Kamranzad
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Nicolas Guillou: Cerema, Direction Risques, Eau et Mer, Hydraulique et Aménagement, 155 rue Pierre Bouguer, Technopôle Brest-Iroise, BP 5, 29280 Plouzané, France
George Lavidas: Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628 CN Delft, The Netherlands
Bahareh Kamranzad: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G11XJ, UK

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 2, 1-27

Abstract: Refined numerical wave energy resource assessments are required to reduce uncertainties in the evaluation of available power and energy production. However, to restrict the computational cost, a great part of wave hindcast simulations cover a limited time range (below ten years) or rely on coarse spatial resolutions while routinely ignoring tide-induced modulations in wave conditions. Complementing resource assessments conducted in the North-West European shelf seas, we here exploited a 27-year hindcast database (1994–2020) set up at a spatial resolution of 200 m along the coast of France and integrating the effects of tidal currents on waves. This evaluation was conducted in three water depths from offshore to nearshore (60, 40 and 20 m) around Brittany, one of the most energetic regions along the coast of France. We investigated the performances of a series of thirteen state-of-the-art wave energy converters with respect to installation depth range. Beyond confirming the interest of western Brittany in energy exploitation, the results exhibited the first ranking between devices, thus promoting the interests of Oceantec in offshore waters (60 m), Wave Dragon in intermediate waters (40 m), and Oyster and WaveStar C6 in shallow waters (20 m).

Keywords: inter-annual and inter-seasonal variability; wave climate; wave energy converters; capacity factor; efficiency index; hindcast database; wave and current interactions; power matrix (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:2:p:1725-:d:1037841

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