Abstract
This chapter concerns the characterisation of the energy resource from wind waves and tides a fundamental step towards its exploitation. It shows why the nearshore wave resource presents significant spatial variability. Having established the offshore wave resource, the next step in characterising the inshore wave resource is the propagation from offshore to the nearshore area of interest. The chapter covers linear wave theory, which applies only to certain wave conditions. The analysis of random waves is based on the concept of sea state, which may be analysed in the time or the frequency domain. To characterise the tidal stream resource in an area of interest, a numerical model of the hydrodynamics of the area is implemented, calibrated and validated based on field data. The chapter illustrates the procedure through a case study in the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary, an area of great potential for tidal stream.
This is a chapter from Wave and Tidal Energy.