Abstract
The wave power potential in the North Sea was studied in several publications for different locations. This paper estimates the wave power potential at a specific location, namely, near the town of Hvide Sande, located on the western coast of Denmark. To assess the wave energy resource at Hvide Sande, a hindcast model utilizing SWAN (Simulating WAves Nearshore) simulation tool is developed. The model is calibrated and validated with the 8-years data from a wave measurement buoy located close to Hvide Sande. Significant wave heights from simulations show a high correlation with the buoy data, and the mean wave periods are in good agreement with the measurements. Utilizing 30-years ERA5 reanalysis wind and wave data provided by the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts, the model was used to obtain the sea states at four sites. These sites are chosen to fulfil the placement requirements of two wave energy converter concepts: Seabased and ECO Wave Power. The average annual power density is found from 17.3 kW/m to 18.32 kW/m for offshore locations and 10.8 kW/m for the breakwater location. The obtained results on wave power potential and the time series of sea states during the 30years period will be used for the (micro-) grid studies for the town of Hvide Sande.