Characterization of Wave Climate at Hanstholm Location with Focus on the Ratio between Average and Extreme Waves Heights

The wave energy sector is in need of showing positive experience from the real sea trial in order to prove its feasibility. For this purpose, an accurate knowledge of wave conditions at the selected location of installation is fundamental. A design challenge for wave energy devices is the large differences between the extreme wave conditions in which the device is designed to survive and the average wave conditions for which the device is to be optimised. Indeed, the ratio between extreme loads and operational loads has been identified to be a fundamental factor for the design and the cost analysis of the wave energy units. The present paper provides an estimate of everyday wave conditions at Hanstholm location, by mean of scatter diagrams for different locations within the harbour vicinity. Results on wave heights transformation from offshore to shore realized with numerical model for operational and extreme waves are then presented and compared in different strategic points for WECs installation in the proximity of Hanstholm harbour within the Danish Wave Energy Centre (DanWEC).