Analyzing the national context, it is observed that the Italian coast, approximately 8,000 km long, has coastal structures that could be effectively utilized for wave energy generation. Applying devices suitable for coastal use would result in savings on installation, maintenance, and connection costs to the power grid, while also avoiding stringent environmental constraints related to laying electrical transmission cables on the seabed. The WaveSAX device is a Wave Energy Converter of the Oscillating Water Column type, designed and developed by RSE. The activities conducted this year aimed to improve the device’s performance and reduce construction/maintenance costs through numerical simulation studies and real-wave testing in the port of Civitavecchia. Concurrently, analysis of currently available antifouling technologies and results from sea trials of materials have led to the development of an antifouling protection strategy for the WaveSAX device. The LCOE of the device was evaluated, and design proposals for its implementation on offshore platforms were formulated.
Additionally, the research focused on analyzing wind and wave energy resources in the Strait of Sicily by evaluating the combined production of these two resources, considering various design solutions for co-located systems, as well as economic evaluations concerning the installation of hybrid offshore platforms. A methodology for assessing the actual energy potential from offshore wind and wave energy along the Italian coast was also developed.