Key Aspects of Wave Energy: Review and assessment of the sector with a focus on possible multifunctional devices

Diversification of renewable energy sources is fundamental to ensure sustainability. In this contest, wave energy can provide a substantial contribution as soon as the sector breaks into the market. In order to accelerate shift from a technology to a market focus and reduce technical and non-technical risks, it is critical to provide comprehensive and reliable information on the technologies without neglecting attractive advantages. It is possible to underline a different key of lecture of wave energy performance by considering efficiency and power production as well as device versatility. By collecting the experience from mainly three different wave energy developers, the possible alternative functions (other than energy production) of the devices are describe: Wave Dragon can be effectively used to reduce coastline erosion and/or as mussel farm; the Sea wave Slot cone Generator (SSG) can be used as a breakwater therefore providing a solid structure for harbor protection; the Wave Star can be used as a base for offshore wind and photovoltaic installation in the middle of the sea, realizing an hybrid renewable energy platform. It is the authors´ believe that taking wave energy devices versatility into account can improve their overall performance and the value of investments. The way installation of devices can be perceived also by local communities can also benefit from this prospective thus providing and additional tool to overcome the sector´s setbacks.