Techno-economic framework for wave energy-to-electricity conversion under South African conditions

Abstract

This research report presents the research undertaken to develop a technical and economic analysis framework (Chapter 5) for Wave Energy Converters (WECs) in South Africa (SA) that can be used in the future for assessing and tracking developments of current and future technology designs. The study leading to the development of the framework is approached by understanding the wave energy resources, WECs, South African regulating policies, international practices and projects, and WEC analysis tools. The acquired information is used in case studies where two WECs of different design type are assessed for SA conditions. These WECs are assessed and compared using computational tools, which are themselves assessed and compared to verify their consistency and alignment of their outputs. The framework to techno-economically analyse the future WECs’ viability in SA was successfully developed, through knowledge acquired from literature review and case studies.