Wave energy resource in the Pacific

Cyprien Bosserelle, Tom Durrant, Sandeep Reddy, Jens Kruger

Spatial/temporal analysis of wave parameters

19th Nov 2013 Pacific Island Countries GIS and RS User Conference

Motivations

Coastal hazards (inundation, erosion)

• Hazard mitigation• Coastal planning and development• Disaster management• Water and sanitation

Why are we studying waves?

MotivationWave energy could play an important role in the development of Pacific Island nations

How reliable is wave energy in the region and where to install what device?

Method: Wave hindcast• Simulation of waves in the past

• Global to regional scale

• 1979 to 2013

• Wave Watch III model (State of the art wave simulation)

• Wind from NOAA-CFSR reanalysis• Hourly wind hindcast• High spatial resolution (0.3deg)• Includes cyclones (crude)

Method: Nearshore wave hindcast• Simulation of waves in the past using the global

wave hindcast

• Fine scale (100-300Km)

• Simulating Wave Nearshore (SWAN)

• Selected locations:• Western Samoa• Tongatapu (Tonga)• Fiji (Viti Levu, Kadavu)• Efate (Vanuatu)• Funafuti (Tuvalu)• Rarotonga (Cook Islands)

Wave height of the global ocean

m

Complex wave climateMany wave generation areas; many islands

Number of wave systems present

Mean wave height

m

Southern Ocean swells

North Pacific swells

Reliability of wave heightWave height exceeded 90% of the time

m

Mean available wave power

kW/m

Importance of local bathymetry

kW/mWide continental shelf

Narrow/no continental shelf

Samoa nearshore bathymetryDepth (m)

Wave height Hotspots

m

Wave height Hotspots

m

Take home messages• Wave climate in the Pacific region is one of the most complex in the world

• Wave energy is reliable and a commercially viable resource in most of the region (except PNG, Solomon)

• Offshore assessment can be realistic for islands with steep offshore slopes but nearshore analysis is need for larger island with gentler slopes

Future Work• Local wave energy and hotspot for 6 islands of the Pacific region

• Simulation of the energy output of:• Wave Oyster• Palamis• CETO

• Cost-benefit assessement

Thank you