Wave resource variability: Impacts on wave power supply over regional to international scales

This is the final version of the article. Available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.The intermittent, irregular and variable nature of the wave energy resource has implications for the supply of wave-generated electricity into the grid; intermittency of renewable power may lead to frequency and voltage fluctuations in the transmission and distribution networks. This study analyses the wave resource over different spatial scales to investigate the potential impacts of the resource variability on the grid supply. It is found that the deployment of multiple wave energy sites results in a reduction in step changes in power, leading to an overall smoothing of the wave-generated electrical power.The work was supported by the EPSRC funded “Extension of UKCMER Core Research, Industry and International Engagement” project (EP/M014738/1). The Authors acknowledge the financial support provided by the Welsh Government and Higher Education Funding Council for Wales through the Sêr Cymru National Research Network for Low Carbon, Energy and Environment (C001822). This study was a re-analysis of existing data, which are openly available at locations cited in the reference section