WAVE FARM LAYOUT AND COASTAL IMPACTS

[摘要] Understanding the impacts of wave energy exploitation is crucial if it is to develop as a fully-fledged renewable. The objective of this work is to investigate whether the impacts of a wave farm on the nearshore wave conditions change significantly depending on its layout, and if so, in which manner. This investigation is carried out through a wave farm project proposed for NW Spain. The impact resulting from one- and two-row layouts of the farm is compared under different wave conditions representative of the area, leading to twelve case studies. We find that the different layouts do produce substantially different wave conditions immediately behind the farm. The differences in the nearshore for the cases studied are, however, not so large, but could increase if the farm is placed closer to the shoreline.

[学科分类] 建筑学

[关键词] wave energy;ocean energy;marine renewable energy;coastal processes;nearshore impacts;coastal defence.