Abstract
The goal of this work is to estimate nearshore wave energy resources in central Chile with high spatial resolution. Due to the lack of in situ measurements a suite of numerical models are used to assess the wave energy between 2009 and 2010. We compare the effects of different wind forcing reanalysis, particularly CFSR and ERA-Interim, and physics parametrizations on numerical simulations of the nearshore wave energy fluxes near Valparaiso (33°S), central Chile. For this we utilize WAVEWATCH III®, an open source community spectral wave model, configured with a high resolution unstructured grid (200–400 m at the coast). Our results show a difference of 3 kW/m in wave power estimations when using different wind reanalysis, and less a difference of less than 0.5 kW/m when adding the triad wave interactions term. Statistical indicators calculated using buoy and altimeter data for comparison favor the use of ERA-Interim winds and including triad wave interactions. For the Valparaiso region, the area south of Punta Curaumilla was confirmed as a hot spot of wave energy (4–5 MW/yr), with the most energetic and frequent sea state described by Te of 9–11 s and H_s 2.5–3.5 m.