In recent years, the marine source has been the subject of several European and national initiatives due to its high energy potential.
Although this is a variable resource because it does not guarantee the continuity of the electricity produced, the waves of the Mediterranean sea show a cyclical seasonal behavior with summer periods with lower generation potential and winter periods with greater performance.
The European Commission, EU Member States and the stakeholders signed a declaration of intent in 2017 that states objectives for reducing the costs of marine energy technologies, also including the generation of energy from marine sources in the Strategic Energy Technology Plan of the European Union ( SET Plan).
In December 2019, the Italian Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) sent to the European Community provided for a significant growth of renewables in the national energy mix (in particular wind and photovoltaic power) which includes, in a scenario of medium-long term, also the use of marine sources, including wave energy. Furthermore, several companies in the energy, naval and offshore sectors have recently shown a strong interest in the marine source.
The report presents research activities aimed at evaluating the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) of the WaveSAX device and investment costs. This evaluation takes place through the analysis of the producibility of the device in three sites on the Italian coast and two oceanic sites along the Portuguese coast. The investment costs are evaluated for two design solutions, respectively with the device installed externally or incorporated into the port wall. The evaluation of the revenues from the sale of the energy produced has made it possible to evaluate economic parameters relevant for the bankability assessments of a project, such as the Total Net Benefit (TNB), the Net Present Value (NPV) and the Payback Time of the investment (PBT). LCOE values were obtained which show the technical-economic feasibility of the WaveSAX and the contribution it could provide to achieving the objectives of the SET Plan for ocean energy.
Finally, design solutions were identified that allow for the installation of the WaveSAX device in an offshore configuration in Oil & Gas platforms, hybrid wind platforms and in array systems.