Abstract
The Pacific Northwest of the United States is characterized by one of the greatest annual mean wave power resources in the world. As a result, the wave energy resource offshore of Oregon has been characterized, based on physical buoy data and hindcast models. Since 2012, Oregon State University (OSU) has been developing an open-ocean wave energy test facility, PacWave, which is affiliated with the Pacific Marine Energy Center (PMEC). The PacWave facility consists of North and South test sites off the coast of Newport, Oregon.
This report presents a detailed analysis of wave, wind, and current characteristics at PacWave, utilizing a newly available 32-year SWAN hindcast simulation and 25-year historical buoy data. The analysis follows the recommendations issued by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) technical specification (TS) 62600-101. The assessment aims to provide the most up-to-date characterization of individual marine energy resources (waves, wind, and current) at PacWave, as well as the correlations between these resources.