Ocean Wave Properties of Terengganu for Renewable Energy Potential

Abstract

The development of renewable energy sources together with the expansion of those currently exploited is crucial in reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases as prescribed by the Kyoto protocol. Among renewable energy sources, ocean waves contain the highest energy density. This allows for substantial energy generation in relatively small areas from a virtually inexhaustible energy source. Wave energy has a number of significant advantages with respect to other renewable energy sources -- predictability, abundance, high load factor and low environmental impact, among others. In spite of these advantages, wave energy exploitation is still in its infancy due to technological challenges still ahead. Although wave energy potential has been reported for a few countries around the world, reliable and year-long wave data is still needed for Malaysia. This study therefore addresses this need. The wave resource characterization is a crucial point towards the exploitation of wave energy. Wave power along the Terengganu coast was analyzed at a time scale of months to examine the seasonal dependencies. These investigations show that the Terengganu coast could provide a source of low wave power. The wave climate in the Terengganu coast is among the harshest in Malaysia. The maximum wave height varies between 1--13 m and 3.13 m. The month of December has the highest probability of occurrence of significant wave heights greater than 2 m (2.15%), the possibility of this occurrence begins in November and lasts through January. Similarly, the month of December has the highest probability of occurrence of maximum wave heights greater than 2 m (44.09%) followed by January (40.86%) and November (32.78%). An identical evolution is seen for the wave heights in the classes 1--2 m, the highest frequency of occurrence is in December and represents 68.01% of the total of the month. The wave mean period varies between 2.76 and 5.28 sec and monthly averaged wave peak period varies between 3.94 and 8.28 sec. The main direction in terms of wave energy is North. Further, its high wave energy potential is available during northeast monsoon season. It may be concluded that the Terengganu coast of Malaysia can consider northeast monsoon period for wave energy exploitation.