Wave Energy Resource Harnessing Assessment in a Subtropical Coastal Region of the Pacific

Abstract

Most wave energy converters (WECs) are designed to operate in high-latitude energetic seas, limiting their performance in regions usually dominated by milder conditions. The present study assesses the performance of complete test-stage WECs in farms that satisfy a decentralized energy scheme (DES) on the coast of Baja California, which is considered one of the most energetic regions along the Mexican Pacific. A high-resolution 11-year nearshore wave hindcast was performed and validated with Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs) data to characterize the wave energy resource in the study area. Two hotspots were identified from the wave power climatology. In these sites, the extractive capacities of seven well-known WEC technologies were determined based on their power matrices. Finally, the power extracted by small WEC farms, with the minimum number of devices required to satisfy a DES, was estimated. The studied region has moderate wave power availability with marked seasonality and low inter-annual variability. Out of all the evaluated devices, WaveDragon extracts the highest wave power; however, Pelamis has the best performance, with maximum monthly mean capacity factors up to 40%. Coupling WEC farms with storage modules or hybrid renewable systems are recommended to satisfy a continuous DES during the less energetic summer months.

Deployment of sustainable off-grid marine renewable energy systems in Mexico

“…Most often, electricity is supplied via centralized generation (large-scale generation), with power plants distributing electricity through electric power gird. However, distributed generation (on-site generation) has been gaining importance as renewable energies are developed (Gorr-Pozzi et al, 2021). Off-grid systems and mini-grids or microgrids can generate electricity efficiently Gorr-Pozzi et al, 2021;Olmedo-González et al, 2021;Tobal-Cupul et al, 2022).…”

“…However, distributed generation (on-site generation) has been gaining importance as renewable energies are developed (Gorr-Pozzi et al, 2021). Off-grid systems and mini-grids or microgrids can generate electricity efficiently Gorr-Pozzi et al, 2021;Olmedo-González et al, 2021;Tobal-Cupul et al, 2022). Note: The power units are "normalized" because the graph only represents the power variation considering a minimum power generation of 0.5 units.…”

“…EG-P, JO-G and RS wrote in all sections of the manuscript. All authors (Huante et al, 2018;Alcérreca-Huerta et al, 2019;Hernández-Fontes et al, 2019;Gorr-Pozzi et al, 2021;Bernal-Camacho et al, 2022) Need for Energy Storage (Zhou et al, 2013;Gorr-Pozzi et al, 2021;Olmedo-González et al, 2022) Technology readiness level (TRL)…”

“…Capacity Factor (%) (Garduño-Ruiz et al, 2021;Gorr-Pozzi et al, 2021;IEA-OES, 2022;Tobal-Cupul et al, 2022) Off grid system viability (Power rating) (Sheng et al, 2017;IRENA, 2019IRENA, , 2020Gorr-Pozzi et al, 2021) Efficiency (W/m 2 ) (Alcérreca-Huerta et al, 2019;Hernández-Fontes et al, 2019) Environmental Climate change potential (gCO2 equiv/kWh) (Rau and Baird, 2018;Paredes et al, 2019;Ma et al, 2022;Smoot, 2022;Tobal-Cupul et al, 2022) Affection to threatened ecosystem (% of affection) Exclusion zone (m 2 ) (Kim et al, 2012;Gourvenec et al, 2022;Hernández Galvez et al, 2022) Frontiers in Energy Research frontiersin.org contributed to manuscript revision, read, and approved the submitted version.…”

“…FIGURE 1 (A) Mean monthly variability for different MREs in Cozumel and Baja California. Data taken from CEMIE-Oceano research(Garduño-Ruiz et al, 2021;Gorr-Pozzi et al, 2021;Olmedo-González et al, 2021;Tobal-Cupul et al, 2022). Note: The power units are "normalized" because the graph only represents the power variation considering a minimum power generation of 0.5 units.…”