Floating wave energy farms: How energy calculations shape economic feasibility?

Abstract

The aim of this study is to use two different methodologies for calculating the energy produced by a total wave energy farm in the Cantabrian Sea (North of Spain). First method studies the energy produced by the farm taking into account the wave energy converter power matrix and the probability matrix of sea conditions for a particular location. On the other hand, second method is a more simplified methodology in which the wave energy converter power matrix is not taken into account, but it considers the density of the water, gravity, period and height of the wave, as well as the percentage of efficiency, among others. Finally, the energy generated by the farm and the economic parameters that allow calculating its economic feasibility are studied, such as Levelized Cost of Energy, Net Present Value and Internal Rate of Return. Results indicate the importance of using a particular method for calculating the energy produced by a wave energy farm in terms of the variation of its economic feasibility. In this sense, it is shown that despite the fact that the first method is more detailed, the variations between both methods are very small, therefore the simplest model can be used in the future studies, reducing the calculation process in the future.

Keywords

• Floating wave energy farm
• Energy production
• Levelized Cost of Energy
• Net Present Value
• Internal Rate of Return