Abstract
Ocean wave energy is one of the cleanest renewable energy sources around the globe, but wave energy varies widely from place to place and from time to time. The long-term variability of wave power at 20 locations in the Indian shelf seas from 1979 to 2018 is described here using the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts recently released ERA5 reanalysis hourly data. The variability is calculated on a yearly and monthly basis for the locations based on the coefficient of variation. The annual average wave power varied from 2.3 (at location 16 in the western Bay of Bengal) to 11 kW/m (at location 2 in the northeastern Arabian Sea). Along the western shelf seas, the maximum value of wave power is during the southwest monsoon period and along the east coast, it is during the tropical cyclone period. The standard deviation in wave power is more than the mean value at locations along the northern shelf seas of India, indicating a large variability in wave power in an annual cycle. The west coast locations are shown to have a slightly higher increasing trend with an average of 0.024 kW/m per year, while the increasing trend in wave power of east coast locations is with an average of 0.015 kW/m per year. The study also examines the variation in wave power from deep to shallow water at 2 locations using the wave characteristics obtained from the numerical model SWAN. The electric power output from a few wave energy converters are calculated for all the locations and found that the southernmost locations have a steady and higher percentage of power production.
Highlights
The depletion of conventional energy reserves, the rising cost of electricity generation and global warming have sparked interest in renewable ocean energy in many countries [1]
During the pre and post-monsoon period, the maximum values of wave power are found at the southernmost location
The difference in the 50th and 75th percentile values for Arabian Sea (AS) locations are in a larger range compared to Bay of Bengal (BoB) locations
Summary
The depletion of conventional energy reserves, the rising cost of electricity generation and global warming have sparked interest in renewable ocean energy in many countries [1]. The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras in Chennai has conducted early studies on wave energy resources and a nearshore oscillating water column wave energy plant was installed on the southwest coast of India at Vizhinjam [11,12]. Based on the wave data measured using a waverider buoy for a one-year period, Sanil Kumar et al [13] reported variations in wave power at four shallow water locations (water depth varying from 9 to 15 m) in the west and east coasts of India. Again, as in Mutriku, where these developments have gone further as pre-operational models for managing electricity generated by waves [24] Motivated by these aspects, the present study examines the wave power at 20 locations around the Indian mainland (Figure 1).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
