Characterizing the near shore wave energy resource on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada

Abstract

Global wave energy inventories have shown that the west coast of Canada possesses one of the most energetic wave climates in the world, with average annual wave energy transports of 40–50 kW/m occurring at the continental shelf. With this energetic climate, there is an opportunity to generate significant quantities of electricity from this renewable source through the use of wave energy conversion (WEC) technologies. To help evaluate the feasibility of deploying wave energy conversion technologies along the west coast of Vancouver Island, a detailed Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN) model was developed to assess the wave resource. The SWAN model hindcasted wave conditions along the west coast over the 2005–2012 period, at a 3 h time resolution. Detailed sensitivity studies within this report illustrate that the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Centre's (FNMOC) WaveWatch 3 results exhibited superior model performance when used as wave input boundary conditions. The corresponding Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS) wind fields were used as non-stationary wind forcing functions within the computational domain. Yearly and monthly mean variations of spectral and parametric wave characteristics for two reference locations were plotted to indicate both the spatial and temporal variability of the wave climate. The mean annual wave energy transport for Amphitrite Bank was calculated to be 34.5 kW/m, while the shallower second location featured 27.8 kW/m just 500 m from shore. Wave energy resources of this magnitude are not common globally and, as a consequence, signify that the west coast of Vancouver Island may be an excellent candidate location for future wave energy development.