Analyzing wave energy potential near Essaouira coast in Morocco

Waves generated by winds can transport a large amount of energy across the oceans with little loss. Many countries are currently developing promising technologies to harvest this energy by converting it into electricity. Studies dedicated to wave potential assessment are of primary importance for spotting the suitable locations to install wave energy converters as well as for designing wave energy devices. This paper presents an analysis of wave energy potential near Essaouira coast in Morocco, through the use of ocean wave hindcast data and high-resolution numerical modeling. The wave data were extracted from the European Integrated Ocean Waves for Geophysical and other Applications (IOWAGA) dataset for a period of 27 years. Results showed that the annual average power is about 23.72 kW/m which is equivalent to annual wave energy of 199.12 MWh/m. It was also found that the bulk of the wave energy is generated by waves with significant height between 1.5 and 3.0 m and mean wave energy periods between 10 and 12.5 s. The wave energy in the studied area exhibits a noticeable variability at different time scales. The numerical simulations enabled to identify three important locations suitable for wave energy exploitation. Among these potential sites, the one situated between Essaouira and Cape Sim presents many advantages and appears to be the most favorable.