Expected Performances of WEC Systems Operating Near the European Offshore Wind Sites

The European offshore wind industry is one of the most competitive energy sectors. This is continuously expanding, being expected to provide the support for the development of some other renewables, such as wave energy. Motivated by this aspect, the aim of the present work is to assess the performances of some commercial wave energy converters for different marine sites from the Iberian Peninsula, France, Ireland, or Denmark, respectively. As a first step, the wave energy profile of each site was established based on 10 years of ERA5 data (2012–2021). The most energetic conditions were noticed close to the sites facing the North Atlantic Ocean (ex: 87 kW/m) while lower values are expected near the ones from the Baltic Sea. As expected, the performance of a particular Wave Energy Converter depends on the wave climate, and as a consequence the correlation between the power matrix and the local sea state was also assessed. In terms of the capacity factor, a value of 22% is expected near the Irish coast, which can easily increase up to 37% during the winter time.