A joint evaluation of wave and wind energy resources in the Black Sea based on 20-year hindcast information

Abstract

In this study, a joint evaluation of the wind and wave energy over the Black Sea basin is performed for a 20-year time interval. The importance of such a study is enhanced by the fact that the potential of the wave energy cannot be considered high compared to the large oceans, while the wind conditions over the Black Sea can be considered significant in various areas. The wind fields from the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction were used for wind energy estimation. A high resolution wave hindcast database, as resulted from the simulations performed with the Simulating WAves Nearshore model, is used for a detailed analysis of the wave energy potential in the basin of the Black Sea. The reliability of the wave simulation results was increased by means of some data assimilation methodologies. The variability and complementarity of these renewable energy resources was investigated. The analysis showed that there exist some suitable areas for combined wind-wave exploitation.