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...

Wave energy is of particular interest in the case of islands, and even more so if the electricity network of the island is isolated – as in many Atlantic islands. The objective of this work is to analyse the impacts of wave exploitation on the nearshore wave climate of the island through a...

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 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...

In many regions strong tidal flow occurs only in areas with restricted water depths, typically within estuaries or rias. Although in some of these areas the depth constraint may preclude the exploitation of this resource, in others it is exploitable – and substantial. The objective of this...