IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v14y2021i16p4764-d609178.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Wave Energy in the Mediterranean Sea: Resource Assessment, Deployed WECs and Prospects

Author

Listed:
  • Evangelia Dialyna

    (Renewable and Sustainable Energy Systems Lab, School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Kounoupidiana Campus, Technical University of Crete, 73100 Chania, Greece)

  • Theocharis Tsoutsos

    (Renewable and Sustainable Energy Systems Lab, School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Kounoupidiana Campus, Technical University of Crete, 73100 Chania, Greece)

Abstract

A detailed review of wave energy resource assessment and the state-of-the-art of deployed wave energy converters (WECs) in real environmental conditions in the Mediterranean Sea have been analysed in this study. The installed power of the several deployed WECs in the Mediterranean Sea varies between 3–2500 kW. Ten project cases of deployed WECs in the basin are presented, with their analysis of the essential features. Five different types of WEC have already been tested under real environmental conditions in Italy, Greece, Israel and Gibraltar, with Italy being the Mediterranean country with the most deployed WECs. The main questions of the relevant studies were the ongoing trends, the examination of WECs in combination with other renewable sources, the utilising of WECs for desalination, and the prospects of wave energy in the Mediterranean islands and ports. This paper is the first comprehensive study that overviews the recent significant developments in the wave energy sector in the Mediterranean countries. The research concludes that the advances of the wave energy sector in the Mediterranean Sea are significant. However, in order to commercialise WECs and wave energy exploitation to become profitable, more development is necessary.

Suggested Citation

  • Evangelia Dialyna & Theocharis Tsoutsos, 2021. "Wave Energy in the Mediterranean Sea: Resource Assessment, Deployed WECs and Prospects," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-18, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:16:p:4764-:d:609178
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/16/4764/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/16/4764/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kalogeri, Christina & Galanis, George & Spyrou, Christos & Diamantis, Dimitris & Baladima, Foteini & Koukoula, Marika & Kallos, George, 2017. "Assessing the European offshore wind and wave energy resource for combined exploitation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 244-264.
    2. Arena, Felice & Laface, Valentina & Malara, Giovanni & Romolo, Alessandra & Viviano, Antonino & Fiamma, Vincenzo & Sannino, Gianmaria & Carillo, Adriana, 2015. "Wave climate analysis for the design of wave energy harvesters in the Mediterranean Sea," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 125-141.
    3. George Lavidas & Francesco De Leo & Giovanni Besio, 2020. "Blue Growth Development in the Mediterranean Sea: Quantifying the Benefits of an Integrated Wave Energy Converter at Genoa Harbour," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-14, August.
    4. Raúl Cascajo & Emilio García & Eduardo Quiles & Antonio Correcher & Francisco Morant, 2019. "Integration of Marine Wave Energy Converters into Seaports: A Case Study in the Port of Valencia," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-24, February.
    5. Vincenzo Franzitta & Domenico Curto & Daniele Milone & Davide Rao, 2016. "Assessment of Renewable Sources for the Energy Consumption in Malta in the Mediterranean Sea," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-17, December.
    6. Rusu, Liliana & Guedes Soares, C., 2012. "Wave energy assessments in the Azores islands," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 183-196.
    7. Claudio Iuppa & Pasquale Contestabile & Luca Cavallaro & Enrico Foti & Diego Vicinanza, 2016. "Hydraulic Performance of an Innovative Breakwater for Overtopping Wave Energy Conversion," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-20, November.
    8. Besio, G. & Mentaschi, L. & Mazzino, A., 2016. "Wave energy resource assessment in the Mediterranean Sea on the basis of a 35-year hindcast," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 50-63.
    9. Zodiatis, George & Galanis, George & Nikolaidis, Andreas & Kalogeri, Christina & Hayes, Dan & Georgiou, Georgios C. & Chu, Peter C. & Kallos, George, 2014. "Wave energy potential in the Eastern Mediterranean Levantine Basin. An integrated 10-year study," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 311-323.
    10. López, Iraide & Andreu, Jon & Ceballos, Salvador & Martínez de Alegría, Iñigo & Kortabarria, Iñigo, 2013. "Review of wave energy technologies and the necessary power-equipment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 413-434.
    11. Ayat, Berna, 2013. "Wave power atlas of Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean Seas," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 251-262.
    12. Foteinis, S. & Hancock, J. & Mazarakis, N. & Tsoutsos, T. & Synolakis, C.E., 2017. "A comparative analysis of wave power in the nearshore by WAM estimates and in-situ (AWAC) measurements. The case study of Varkiza, Athens, Greece," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 500-508.
    13. Li Li & Jiadong Zhu & Guanqiong Ye & Xuehao Feng, 2018. "Development of Green Ports with the Consideration of Coastal Wave Energy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-17, November.
    14. Vicinanza, D. & Contestabile, P. & Ferrante, V., 2013. "Wave energy potential in the north-west of Sardinia (Italy)," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 506-521.
    15. Moretti, Giacomo & Malara, Giovanni & Scialò, Andrea & Daniele, Luca & Romolo, Alessandra & Vertechy, Rocco & Fontana, Marco & Arena, Felice, 2020. "Modelling and field testing of a breakwater-integrated U-OWC wave energy converter with dielectric elastomer generator," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 628-642.
    16. Contestabile, Pasquale & Crispino, Gaetano & Di Lauro, Enrico & Ferrante, Vincenzo & Gisonni, Corrado & Vicinanza, Diego, 2020. "Overtopping breakwater for wave Energy Conversion: Review of state of art, recent advancements and what lies ahead," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(P1), pages 705-718.
    17. Joan Pau Sierra & Ricard Castrillo & Marc Mestres & César Mösso & Piero Lionello & Luigi Marzo, 2020. "Impact of Climate Change on Wave Energy Resource in the Mediterranean Coast of Morocco," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-19, June.
    18. López-Ruiz, Alejandro & Bergillos, Rafael J. & Ortega-Sánchez, Miguel, 2016. "The importance of wave climate forecasting on the decision-making process for nearshore wave energy exploitation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 191-203.
    19. Monteforte, M. & Lo Re, C. & Ferreri, G.B., 2015. "Wave energy assessment in Sicily (Italy)," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 276-287.
    20. Mustapa, M.A. & Yaakob, O.B. & Ahmed, Yasser M. & Rheem, Chang-Kyu & Koh, K.K. & Adnan, Faizul Amri, 2017. "Wave energy device and breakwater integration: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 43-58.
    21. Tunde Aderinto & Hua Li, 2018. "Ocean Wave Energy Converters: Status and Challenges," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-26, May.
    22. Shehata, Ahmed S. & Xiao, Qing & El-Shaib, Mohamed & Sharara, Ashraf & Alexander, Day, 2017. "Comparative analysis of different wave turbine designs based on conditions relevant to northern coast of Egypt," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 450-467.
    23. Sierra, J.P. & Casas-Prat, M. & Campins, E., 2017. "Impact of climate change on wave energy resource: The case of Menorca (Spain)," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 275-285.
    24. Vasileiou, Margarita & Loukogeorgaki, Eva & Vagiona, Dimitra G., 2017. "GIS-based multi-criteria decision analysis for site selection of hybrid offshore wind and wave energy systems in Greece," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 745-757.
    25. Liberti, Luca & Carillo, Adriana & Sannino, Gianmaria, 2013. "Wave energy resource assessment in the Mediterranean, the Italian perspective," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 938-949.
    26. Lavidas, George & Venugopal, Vengatesan, 2017. "A 35 year high-resolution wave atlas for nearshore energy production and economics at the Aegean Sea," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 401-417.
    27. Ponce de León, S. & Orfila, A. & Simarro, G., 2016. "Wave energy in the Balearic Sea. Evolution from a 29 year spectral wave hindcast," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 1192-1200.
    28. Stefania Naty & Antonino Viviano & Enrico Foti, 2016. "Wave Energy Exploitation System Integrated in the Coastal Structure of a Mediterranean Port," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-19, December.
    29. Lavidas, George, 2019. "Energy and socio-economic benefits from the development of wave energy in Greece," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 1290-1300.
    30. Foteinis, S. & Tsoutsos, T., 2017. "Strategies to improve sustainability and offset the initial high capital expenditure of wave energy converters (WECs)," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 775-785.
    31. Emmanouil, George & Galanis, George & Kalogeri, Christina & Zodiatis, George & Kallos, George, 2016. "10-year high resolution study of wind, sea waves and wave energy assessment in the Greek offshore areas," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 399-419.
    32. Vincenzo Franzitta & Domenico Curto, 2017. "Sustainability of the Renewable Energy Extraction Close to the Mediterranean Islands," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-19, February.
    33. Ferrari, Francesco & Besio, Giovanni & Cassola, Federico & Mazzino, Andrea, 2020. "Optimized wind and wave energy resource assessment and offshore exploitability in the Mediterranean Sea," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    34. Daniel Ganea & Valentin Amortila & Elena Mereuta & Eugen Rusu, 2017. "A Joint Evaluation of the Wind and Wave Energy Resources Close to the Greek Islands," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-22, June.
    35. Amarouche, Khalid & Akpınar, Adem & Bachari, Nour El Islam & Houma, Fouzia, 2020. "Wave energy resource assessment along the Algerian coast based on 39-year wave hindcast," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 840-860.
    36. Valentina Vannucchi & Lorenzo Cappietti, 2016. "Wave Energy Assessment and Performance Estimation of State of the Art Wave Energy Converters in Italian Hotspots," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-21, December.
    37. Dimitrios N. Konispoliatis & Georgios M. Katsaounis & Dimitrios I. Manolas & Takvor H. Soukissian & Stylianos Polyzos & Thomas P. Mazarakos & Spyros G. Voutsinas & Spyridon A. Mavrakos, 2021. "REFOS: A Renewable Energy Multi-Purpose Floating Offshore System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-28, May.
    38. Andrea Farkas & Nastia Degiuli & Ivana Martić, 2019. "Assessment of Offshore Wave Energy Potential in the Croatian Part of the Adriatic Sea and Comparison with Wind Energy Potential," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-20, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Eugen Rusu, 2022. "Marine Renewable Energy: An Important Direction in Taking the Green Road towards a Low Carbon Future," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-3, July.
    2. József Kádár & Martina Pilloni & Tareq Abu Hamed, 2023. "A Survey of Renewable Energy, Climate Change, and Policy Awareness in Israel: The Long Path for Citizen Participation in the National Renewable Energy Transition," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-16, February.
    3. Manuel Corrales-Gonzalez & George Lavidas & Giovanni Besio, 2023. "Feasibility of Wave Energy Harvesting in the Ligurian Sea, Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-22, June.
    4. Foteinis, Spyros, 2022. "Wave energy converters in low energy seas: Current state and opportunities," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Foteinis, Spyros, 2022. "Wave energy converters in low energy seas: Current state and opportunities," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    2. Joan Pau Sierra & Ricard Castrillo & Marc Mestres & César Mösso & Piero Lionello & Luigi Marzo, 2020. "Impact of Climate Change on Wave Energy Resource in the Mediterranean Coast of Morocco," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-19, June.
    3. Takvor H. Soukissian & Dimitra Denaxa & Flora Karathanasi & Aristides Prospathopoulos & Konstantinos Sarantakos & Athanasia Iona & Konstantinos Georgantas & Spyridon Mavrakos, 2017. "Marine Renewable Energy in the Mediterranean Sea: Status and Perspectives," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-56, September.
    4. Morim, Joao & Cartwright, Nick & Etemad-Shahidi, Amir & Strauss, Darrell & Hemer, Mark, 2016. "Wave energy resource assessment along the Southeast coast of Australia on the basis of a 31-year hindcast," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 276-297.
    5. Masoud, Alaa A., 2022. "On the Nile Fan's wave power potential and controlling factors integrating spectral and geostatistical techniques," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 921-945.
    6. Bingölbali, Bilal & Jafali, Halid & Akpınar, Adem & Bekiroğlu, Serkan, 2020. "Wave energy potential and variability for the south west coasts of the Black Sea: The WEB-based wave energy atlas," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 136-150.
    7. Lin, Yifan & Dong, Sheng & Wang, Zhifeng & Guedes Soares, C., 2019. "Wave energy assessment in the China adjacent seas on the basis of a 20-year SWAN simulation with unstructured grids," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 275-295.
    8. Amarouche, Khalid & Akpınar, Adem & Bachari, Nour El Islam & Houma, Fouzia, 2020. "Wave energy resource assessment along the Algerian coast based on 39-year wave hindcast," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 840-860.
    9. Andrea Farkas & Nastia Degiuli & Ivana Martić, 2019. "Assessment of Offshore Wave Energy Potential in the Croatian Part of the Adriatic Sea and Comparison with Wind Energy Potential," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-20, June.
    10. 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.
    11. Laface, Valentina & Arena, Felice, 2023. "Extremes and resource assessment of wind and waves in central Mediterranean Sea," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(PA).
    12. Vincenzo Franzitta & Pietro Catrini & Domenico Curto, 2017. "Wave Energy Assessment along Sicilian Coastline, Based on DEIM Point Absorber," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-15, March.
    13. Aristodemo, Francesco & Algieri Ferraro, Danilo, 2018. "Feasibility of WEC installations for domestic and public electrical supplies: A case study off the Calabrian coast," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 261-285.
    14. Egidijus Kasiulis & Jens Peter Kofoed & Arvydas Povilaitis & Algirdas Radzevičius, 2017. "Spatial Distribution of the Baltic Sea Near-Shore Wave Power Potential along the Coast of Klaipėda, Lithuania," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-18, December.
    15. Valentina Vannucchi & Lorenzo Cappietti, 2016. "Wave Energy Assessment and Performance Estimation of State of the Art Wave Energy Converters in Italian Hotspots," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-21, December.
    16. Lo Re, Carlo & Manno, Giorgio & Basile, Mirko & Ciraolo, Giuseppe, 2022. "The opportunity of using wave energy converters in a Mediterranean hot spot," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 1095-1114.
    17. Besio, G. & Mentaschi, L. & Mazzino, A., 2016. "Wave energy resource assessment in the Mediterranean Sea on the basis of a 35-year hindcast," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 50-63.
    18. Carlo Lo Re & Giorgio Manno & Giuseppe Ciraolo & Giovanni Besio, 2019. "Wave Energy Assessment around the Aegadian Islands (Sicily)," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-20, January.
    19. Gonçalves, Marta & Martinho, Paulo & Guedes Soares, C., 2018. "A 33-year hindcast on wave energy assessment in the western French coast," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(PB), pages 790-801.
    20. Gonçalves, Marta & Martinho, Paulo & Guedes Soares, C., 2020. "Wave energy assessment based on a 33-year hindcast for the Canary Islands," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 259-269.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:16:p:4764-:d:609178. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.