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Economic Feasibility of Wave Energy Farms in Portugal

Author

Listed:
  • Laura Castro-Santos

    (Departamento de Enxeñaría Naval e Industrial, Universidade da Coruña, Escola Politécnica Superior, Esteiro, 15471 Ferrol, Spain)

  • Dina Silva

    (Centre for Marine Technology and Ocean Engineering (CENTEC), Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal)

  • A. Rute Bento

    (Centre for Marine Technology and Ocean Engineering (CENTEC), Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal)

  • Nadia Salvação

    (Centre for Marine Technology and Ocean Engineering (CENTEC), Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal)

  • C. Guedes Soares

    (Centre for Marine Technology and Ocean Engineering (CENTEC), Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal)

Abstract

This paper develops a methodology to determine the economic feasibility of implementing offshore wave energy farms on the Portuguese continental coast. This methodology follows several phases: the geographic phase, the energy phase, the economic phase, and the restrictions phase. First, in the geographic phase, the height and the period of the waves, the bathymetry, the distance from the farm to the shore, from farm to shipyard, and from farm to port, are calculated. In the energy phase the energy produced by each wave energy converter is determined, and in the economic phase, the parameters calculated in the previous phases are used as input to find the economic parameters. Finally, in the restrictions phase, a limitation by the bathymetry will be added to the economic maps, whose value will be different depending on the floating offshore wave energy converter (WEC). In this study, three wave energy converters have been considered, Pelamis, AquaBuOY, and Wave Dragon, and several scenarios for electric tariffs have been taken into account. The results obtained indicate what the best WEC is for this study in terms of its levelized cost of energy (LCOE), internal rate of return (IRR), and net present value (NPV), and where the best area is to install wave energy farms.

Suggested Citation

  • Laura Castro-Santos & Dina Silva & A. Rute Bento & Nadia Salvação & C. Guedes Soares, 2018. "Economic Feasibility of Wave Energy Farms in Portugal," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-16, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:11:y:2018:i:11:p:3149-:d:182719
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    Cited by:

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    7. Eva Segura & Rafael Morales & José A. Somolinos, 2019. "Increasing the Competitiveness of Tidal Systems by Means of the Improvement of Installation and Maintenance Maneuvers in First Generation Tidal Energy Converters—An Economic Argumentation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-27, June.
    8. Wilhelm Kuckshinrichs, 2021. "LCOE: A Useful and Valid Indicator—Replica to James Loewen and Adam Szymanski," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-8, January.
    9. Clemente, D. & Rosa-Santos, P. & Ferradosa, T. & Taveira-Pinto, F., 2023. "Wave energy conversion energizing offshore aquaculture: Prospects along the Portuguese coastline," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 347-358.
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    14. Américo S. Ribeiro & Maite deCastro & Liliana Rusu & Mariana Bernardino & João M. Dias & Moncho Gomez-Gesteira, 2020. "Evaluating the Future Efficiency of Wave Energy Converters along the NW Coast of the Iberian Peninsula," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-15, July.
    15. Yi Zhang & Dapeng Zhang & Haoyu Jiang, 2023. "A Review of Offshore Wind and Wave Installations in Some Areas with an Eye towards Generating Economic Benefits and Offering Commercial Inspiration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-32, May.
    16. Majidi, Ajab Gul & Ramos, Victor & Amarouche, Khalid & Rosa Santos, Paulo & das Neves, Luciana & Taveira-Pinto, Francisco, 2023. "Assessing the impact of wave model calibration in the uncertainty of wave energy estimation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 415-429.
    17. Vennell, Ross & Major, Robert & Zyngfogel, Remy & Beamsley, Brett & Smeaton, Malcolm & Scheel, Max & Unwin, Heni, 2020. "Rapid initial assessment of the number of turbines required for large-scale power generation by tidal currents," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 1890-1905.

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