The wave and wind power potential in the western Black Sea

Abstract

The main target of this work is to evaluate the wave and wind power resources in the western part of the Black Sea, paying special attention to the Romanian nearshore. The time window considered goes thirty years in the past (starting in 2016 and until 1987). The wind fields provided by the US National Centres for Environmental Prediction have been considered to evaluate the wind power potential. Further on, considering these wind fields, simulations with a wave modelling system have been performed in order to obtain the main wave parameters. By analyzing the wind and wave data for the 30-year period considered, the general patterns of the wind and wave energy have been established. Furthermore, some areas near the Romanian and Ukrainian coasts with high wind power potential have been identified. Also, the synergy between the wind and wave power has been evaluated in ten reference points. Thus, it was identified that along the Romanian coast and continuing to the north close to the coastal area of Ukraine (up to Odessa), there are suitable areas for combined wind-wave exploitation. However, no significant trends were found as regards the wind and wave power.