Techno-economic evaluation of high-TRL WECs in European Nearshore Areas

Abstract

The development of renewable marine energy is essential for combating the current global climate situation. Harnessing the immense potential of oceans offers a sustainable energy source that complements wind and solar, contributing significantly to decarbonizing energy systems and achieving net-zero emissions targets worldwide.

Europe has emerged as a leader in advancing marine renewable energy, driven by its commitment to climate action and clean energy innovation. European initiatives prioritize investment and collaboration to scale up marine energy technologies, demonstrating the region's determination to accelerate the clean energy transition.

International energy committees highlight marine renewables' transformative potential to diversify energy portfolios and enhance global resilience. Advancements in this sector align with global sustainability goals, ensuring a cleaner, more secure, and carbon-neutral energy future.

In the present research, wave downscaling along European coasts was conducted using the SWAN model as part of the EU multi-partner project Blue-X. The wave modeling results were utilized to estimate wave power potential, theoretical wave energy extraction from advanced Wave Energy Converters (WECs), and subsequent economic assessments.

A prior review of WECs in diverse marine environments, such as the Pacific Ocean and Ligurian Sea, served as the foundation for extending the analysis to the Mediterranean Sea, Iberian coasts, Cantabrian Sea, and North Sea in this study. High spatial and hourly temporal resolution data were considered to ensure precise WEC evaluations, although WEC-specific downscaling was not included. Based on the total power produced, capacity factors and indexes as Selection index for Wave Energy Deployments (SIWED) or Wave Energy Deployment Index (WEDI), an economic evaluation tailored to the unique characteristics of different coastal regions was performed, considering renewable energy investment discount rates, in the levelized costs, and current energy market dynamics.

Additional considerations included mapping Marine Protected Areas and marine vegetation, which impose constraints on WEC placement. No realistic marine energy evaluation dismisses the available zones to deploy the marine energy placements, including the environmental and national regulations.  The study also emphasized the importance of long-term cost evaluations in wave energy investments, highlighting potential damage from storm events, quantified through indicators like SIWED or the ratio of maximum WEC power output to wave energy potential. Key findings underscore the influence of WEC type, wave system variability across different seas, and depth of deployment as critical factors shaping the results.