Analysis of the use of the wave energy resource in Galicia: Current situation and future perspectives

The main purpose of the project is to determine the viability of wave energy farms in Galicia in the present and in the future through the analysis of the electrical power that can be extracted from different wave energy capture devices. To do this, first of all, the CMIP6 global climate models that best reproduce the future wind will be selected and their spatial resolution will be increased with a downscaling using the WRF model. The wind data obtained will be used to extract the wave pattern in the same period under two Shared Socioeconomic Paths (SSP) with the WaveWatch III model. Next, the wave data will be downscaled using the SWAN model. The outputs of all simulations will be subjected to a validation process. From these data, the wave energy resource on the Galician coast will be calculated. The electrical power generated by different wave energy capture devices will also be obtained and their performance will be calculated. The study of the feasibility of future marine farms will be carried out according to the electrical power generated and the performance of the devices, but it will also be based on economic aspects linked to characteristics such as the installation area depth or the distance to the coast, as well as purely economic factors such as the price of the devices. Finally, it is planned to publish the results of wave energy resources in public repositories, present the most relevant results in international conferences and publish them in high-impact, open-access scientific journals.