MODEL FOR THE WAVE ENERGY RESOURCE ASSESSMENT

Recently the need for converting the energy production from the traditional resources towards renewable ones is increasing. Some devices using energy from the sea have been developed and are now in operation in different sites and in particular along the Atlantic coasts. The Mediterranean is a semi-enclosed sea and it is characterized by lower values of wave energy with respect to the major oceans, nevertheless wave energy conversion can be economically profitable as under these lower energy conditions devices of reduced size and less expensive are more suitable.
Wave energy represents an interesting renewable resource in Italy considering its intense coastal activities. Moreover, it can contribute to the energy self-sufficiency of the several islands for which the energy supply is particularly expensive both from an economic and an environmental point of view.
Wave energy assessment in the Mediterranean basin is essential both in the design of devices efficient in the exploitation of the resource and for the choice of the most energetic sites for the installation of the devices.
To meet these needs, ENEA realized a wave climatology of the wave energy resource for the entire Mediterranean basin.