Different approaches to analyze the impact of future climate change on the exploitation of wave energy

Abstract

The increment of the share of renewable energies in the global mix implies that all renewable energies must be exploited. In this sense, it is necessary to make significant research and investment effort in the particular case of wave energy to reach the degree of maturity of other marine energies in the near future. Apart from the inherent factors that hinder the development of wave energy, such as the non-existence of a market-leading type of capturing device, uncertainties about the available future resource also hamper its growth. In this article, a review of the procedures followed in the literature to deal with the future wave energy resources and their subsequent exploitation is described. These procedures include the evaluation of the best future atmospheric models to drive wave models, the different downscaling techniques to evaluate the resource in large regions with high spatial resolution, and the analysis of the variability of the future energy resource and its future exploitability in a certain region taking into account different types of devices. Additionally, the current state of the art of previous studies dealing with future wave energy resources for different locations worldwide is described. Despite the difficulties involved in studying future wave energy resources, the high technological readiness level of the offshore wind industry, the creation of power generation farms with combined technologies, and the growth of marine aquaculture in the coming years could generate synergies that provide the definitive impulse to achieve the necessary technological development.