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Characterizing the near shore wave energy resource on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada

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  • Robertson, Bryson R.D.
  • Hiles, Clayton E.
  • Buckham, Bradley J.

Abstract

Global wave energy inventories have shown that the west coast of Canada possesses one of the most energetic wave climates in the world, with average annual wave energy transports of 40–50 kW/m occurring at the continental shelf. With this energetic climate, there is an opportunity to generate significant quantities of electricity from this renewable source through the use of wave energy conversion (WEC) technologies. To help evaluate the feasibility of deploying wave energy conversion technologies along the west coast of Vancouver Island, a detailed Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN) model was developed to assess the wave resource. The SWAN model hindcasted wave conditions along the west coast over the 2005–2012 period, at a 3 h time resolution. Detailed sensitivity studies within this report illustrate that the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Centre's (FNMOC) WaveWatch 3 results exhibited superior model performance when used as wave input boundary conditions. The corresponding Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS) wind fields were used as non-stationary wind forcing functions within the computational domain. Yearly and monthly mean variations of spectral and parametric wave characteristics for two reference locations were plotted to indicate both the spatial and temporal variability of the wave climate. The mean annual wave energy transport for Amphitrite Bank was calculated to be 34.5 kW/m, while the shallower second location featured 27.8 kW/m just 500 m from shore. Wave energy resources of this magnitude are not common globally and, as a consequence, signify that the west coast of Vancouver Island may be an excellent candidate location for future wave energy development.

Suggested Citation

  • Robertson, Bryson R.D. & Hiles, Clayton E. & Buckham, Bradley J., 2014. "Characterizing the near shore wave energy resource on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 665-678.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:71:y:2014:i:c:p:665-678
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2014.06.006
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    7. Xu, Xinxin & Robertson, Bryson & Buckham, Bradley, 2020. "A techno-economic approach to wave energy resource assessment and development site identification," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
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    12. Pasquale Contestabile & Enrico Di Lauro & Paolo Galli & Cesare Corselli & Diego Vicinanza, 2017. "Offshore Wind and Wave Energy Assessment around Malè and Magoodhoo Island (Maldives)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-24, April.
    13. Jahangir, Mohammad Hossein & Mazinani, Mehran, 2020. "Evaluation of the convertible offshore wave energy capacity of the southern strip of the Caspian Sea," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 331-346.
    14. Mediavilla, D.G. & Sepúlveda, H.H., 2016. "Nearshore assessment of wave energy resources in central Chile (2009–2010)," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 136-144.
    15. Fairley, Iain & Lewis, Matthew & Robertson, Bryson & Hemer, Mark & Masters, Ian & Horrillo-Caraballo, Jose & Karunarathna, Harshinie & Reeve, Dominic E., 2020. "A classification system for global wave energy resources based on multivariate clustering," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    16. Robertson, Bryson & Jin, Yuhe & Bailey, Helen & Buckham, Bradley, 2017. "Calibrating wave resource assessments through application of the triple collocation technique," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(PA), pages 166-179.
    17. Pasquale Contestabile & Vincenzo Ferrante & Diego Vicinanza, 2015. "Wave Energy Resource along the Coast of Santa Catarina (Brazil)," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-25, December.
    18. Erdinc, Ozan & Paterakis, Nikolaos G. & Catalão, João P.S., 2015. "Overview of insular power systems under increasing penetration of renewable energy sources: Opportunities and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 333-346.
    19. Beya, Ignacio & Buckham, Bradley & Robertson, Bryson, 2021. "Impact of tidal currents and model fidelity on wave energy resource assessments," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 50-66.
    20. Guillou, Nicolas & Chapalain, Georges, 2020. "Assessment of wave power variability and exploitation with a long-term hindcast database," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 1272-1282.
    21. Robertson, Bryson & Bekker, Jessica & Buckham, Bradley, 2020. "Renewable integration for remote communities: Comparative allowable cost analyses for hydro, solar and wave energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    22. Yang, Zhaoqing & Neary, Vincent S. & Wang, Taiping & Gunawan, Budi & Dallman, Annie R. & Wu, Wei-Cheng, 2017. "A wave model test bed study for wave energy resource characterization," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(PA), pages 132-144.
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