Potential wave energy production by different wave energy converters around Sicily

The performance of several WaveEnergy Converter devices is evaluated at three sites located on the west side of Sicily. To select the most energetic site, the average potential waveenergy along the coasts of Sicily is evaluated by adopting a third-generation spectral wave propagationmodel using as boundary conditions the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts operational archivewave and wind data. The most energetic sites are on the western side of Sicily. In the three hotspots identified, the mean energy flux is within the range of 5.33–7.52 kW/m. The analysis shows that all considered devices have a low capacity factor in their original configurations (2.19%–5.12%). The main causes of the poor results in terms of energy production are related to the fact that such devices are optimized for high-energy waves. A resizing of the devices on the basis of the local wave climate showed that a capacity factor that exceeds 30% could be obtained.