Seasonal variation of wave power potential in the coastal areas of India

Abstract

Wave-power generation could be a feasible solution to the huge power requirements of a country like India having a long coastline. The present study provides details of wave characteristics and wave power potential during different seasons along the Indian coast using wave observations. Seasonal average of significant wave height (Hs) was computed near the coastal areas of India from the measured data. Hs varied in the range 1.62-1.95 m and 1.38-1.39 m along the west and east coastal areas respectively, during summer monsoon. These high waves generate high wave power (>20 kW/m) along the east and west coastal areas of India. The seasonal average of wave power obtained was high (12-19 kW/m) off the west coast of India, suggesting that the west coastal areas are suitable for power generation during summer monsoon. This study highlights that the average wave power is high (1219 kW/m) during summer monsoon along the west coast and insignificant (<2 kW/m) during non-monsoon. Thus the present study suggests employing a to hybrid arrangement of power generation using solar and ocean wave energies to solve the problem of energy deficit near the coastal areas of India.