The Wave Energy Resource

Understanding the hydrodynamics of waves and the wave energy resource is fundamental to the good design of wave energy converters. The wave energy resource can be defined by its temporal, directional and spectral characteristics, although many representations of the wave energy resource result in the removal of this information, with a consequential distortion of the apparent resource. This chapter discusses how wave energy resource data may be generated using numerical model and validated using site measurements. The chapter also discusses the processes that afffect wave propagation and lead to wave transformation. In its totality, the chapter provides sufficient details of the wave resource to allow an assessment of any particular wave resource assessment to be made, together wtith its potential impact on the performance of a wave energy converter.