Long Term Wave Climate at the Danish Test Site DanWEC Based on 35 Years Hindcast Data

This paper presents an analysis of the wave climate of the DanWEC test site based on the 35 years hindcast data. This includes monthly and annual variation of the wave climate at the site together with an analysis of extreme events. This work includees results from the project “Resource Assessment, Forecasts and wave energy converters (WECs) operation and maintenance (O&M) strategies at DanWEC and beyond” which has been initiated to deliver detailed information on the environmental conditions at DanWEC and to review implementation of O&M procedures, which will ultimately improve WEC’s operation and reduce WEC’s costs. The work so far has been concentrated on establishing the base for gaining detailed information on the wave and current climate at DanWEC. In this paper an analysis of the wave climate at the DanWEC test site based on 35 years modelled data will be presented. Relevant characteristics of the test site, such as scatter tables in terms of wave height and energy period (Hm0, Te) and weather window characteristics will be given. Based on 35 years of data gathered so far, an analysis of extreme events at the DanWEC test site is also included in this work.