Wind and wave co-location in the Celtic Sea, UK

Abstract

Within the UK, wave power is generally only considered viable along the energetic west coast of Scotland. However, this region has minimal electricity infrastructure, and so it would be challenging to distribute the electricity. One way to further advance wave energy in the UK could be to co-locate less energetic waves sites with offshore wind. This study examines wave power within the Irish Sea, the southern part of which is exposed to the Atlantic Ocean. The spectral wave model SWAN is run for a decade (2012-2021) to quantify the wave energy resource. The high resolution Irish Sea model is nested within an outer model of the North Atlantic, with both models forced by ERA5 wind fields. Monthly mean wave power in the southern part of the Irish Sea (the Celtic Sea) exceeds 30 kW/m during winter months. To investigate the potential for co-location, wave and wind power were compared at a leased floating wind site in the Celtic Sea. Over the simulated decade, r2 ~ 0.5, demonstrating modest potential for co-location of wind and wave energy technologies – considerably less favourable than other sites in the North Atlantic (for example the Canary Islands or the west coast of Scotland) that exhibit greater swell.