A Hybrid Wave-Wind Offshore Farm for an Island

Abstract

The Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife, owing to the isolation of its electricity grid and its status as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, aims to become energy self-sufficient and reduce its carbon footprint. With these goals in view, renewable energy sources, in particular wave and offshore wind, are promoted to satisfy the energy needs of the island. The main objective of this work is to analyse the energy that could be obtained from a hybrid wave-wind farm located in an optimum area for the exploitation of both resources. Such a farm, consisting of offshore wind turbines and co-located Wave Energy Converters (WECs), would realise the synergies between wave and offshore wind energy. Data from a hindcast database spanning 44 years are used, and the seasonal variability of the hybrid farm’s output is investigated. It is found that the hybrid farm does constitute an excellent approach to satisfying the energy requirements of Tenerife, and that most of the wave and offshore wind energy will be produced in summer mainly because of the high occurrence of winds and waves in the ranges for which offshore wind turbines and WECs are most efficient.