Abstract
This paper presents the results of a case study comparing the performance of two wave energy devices at various scaled power ratings deployed at several European wave energy locations. The study facilitates a novel comparison to be made of different technology types, different wave energy locations and assessed the impacts of using scaled version of the devices on performance. The Pelamis P1 and Wavestar devices were modelled at a sample spread of wave climates locations across Europe. The performance of the devices at various scales and locations was shown both from an energy and economic perspective.
Case study results indicate that the Pelamis P1 devices produced the highest energy and economic returns at high resource locations, but produced poor results at poor resource locations. The Wavestar had less variation over the six case study locations and produced higher energy outputs at sites with a lower resource. For the case study devices selected, Ireland produced the highest energy and economic returns and Greece the lowest. Results for other countries were more device specific. Even though smaller rated devices produced higher energy outputs, large scale devices produced better economic returns, suggesting that economies of scale are relevant to wave energy.