Abstract This paper presents a performance evaluation of Wave Energy Converters (WECs) in terms of electricity production for domestic and public supplies of coastal towns located near hot spot areas. The study was conducted off the coast of Calabria (Southern Italy), a Mediterranean region characterized by a mild wave climate which is quite representative of mean sea states in the Mediterranean basin. The wave energy potential was assessed in deep waters by means of ECMWF wave data validated against RON buoys and UKMO data. Thirteen types of offshore WECs were considered, comparing the performances of full-scale and downscaled devices in terms of yearly and seasonal mean electricity production and operating days. Based on the domestic electricity supplies and those related to the public plants of some selected coastal cities, the number of differently sized devices was calculated in order to satisfy the above needs. To preserve the wave energy production level, the spatial arrangement of wave energy farms was determined in order to minimize possible park effects. The obtained results highlight that the occurrence of offshore WEC farms in a typical Mediterranean zone can lead to a significant number of WECs for domestic and public electricity supplies with a progressive reduction for more energetic sites.

中文翻译：

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家用和公共电力供应 WEC 装置的可行性：卡拉布里亚海岸外的案例研究

摘要 本文从热点地区附近沿海城镇的家庭和公共供应电力生产方面对波浪能转换器 (WEC) 的性能进行了评估。该研究是在卡拉布里亚（意大利南部）海岸附近进行的，这是一个地中海地区，其特点是温和的波浪气候，非常代表地中海盆地的平均海况。借助根据 RON 浮标和 UKMO 数据验证的 ECMWF 波浪数据，对深水中的波浪能潜力进行了评估。考虑了 13 种类型的海上 WEC，比较了全尺寸和缩小尺寸的设备在年度和季节性平均发电量和运行天数方面的性能。根据国内部分电力供应情况和部分沿海城市公用电厂供电情况，为了满足上述需求，计算了不同尺寸设备的数量。为了保持波浪能生产水平，确定了波浪能农场的空间布置，以尽量减少可能的公园效应。获得的结果强调，在典型的地中海地区出现离岸 WEC 农场会导致大量的 WEC 用于家庭和公共电力供应，并逐渐减少更多能量站点的 WEC。