The Water Framework Directive (WFD) aims to solve the problems derived from the use of water, a limited natural resource, by extending the scope of protection to all water uses. The WDF defines the ecological status of water bodies by characterizing each water body type and establishing...

This paper presents the analysis of the intra-annual power performance of different WECs (wave energy converters) at two locations of interest in the northern coastal region of Galicia (NW Spain). With this aim, the wave resource at the locations of interest is characterised by considering a...

Tidal currents represent a promising energy source for electrical supply in Europe; however, nowadays there still exist important aspects to address regarding their exploitation prior to becoming a fully-fledged renewable energy. The accurate assessment of the available resource and the...

Where should the first wave farm in a region be installed? The nearshore area with the largest resource is the prime candidate. But how should this area be determined? Wave resource analyses typically consider a small number of wave patterns. Does the number of wave patterns influence the...

The area around Cape Estaca de Bares (the northernmost point of Iberia) presents a great potential for wave energy exploitation owing to its prominent position, with average deepwater wave power values exceeding 40kW/m. The newly available SIMAR-44 dataset, composed of hindcast data spanning 44...

The Ría de Muros is a large coastal embayment on the north-western coast of Spain in which the peak tidal currents exceed 2m/s. It is therefore a promising site for tidal stream power. The key point when assessing this resource is the accurate estimation of the tidal currents. In this work a...

The wave energy resource of the SE Bay of Biscay is investigated using wave buoy data and a hindcast data set covering a 44-year period (1958–2001). Of the total 13 study sites, three correspond to wave buoys (two coastal, one in deep-water) and the rest to hindcast data points. First, the...

The objective of this work is to investigate how the impact of a wave farm on the nearshore wave conditions depends on its location and, more specifically, its distance to the coast. For this purpose eight case studies in an area with a very substantial wave resource are considered; they encompass...

The island of El Hierro (Spain), a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in the Atlantic Ocean, aims to become the first 100% renewable energy island in the world. With a €54 million wind project already under way, the present research looks at the island’s wave resource using a 44-year hindcast dataset...