Status and potentials of offshore wave energy resources in Chahbahar area (NW Omman Sea)

Chahbahar area is located at the southern coasts of Iran in the Omman Sea. This paper examines possible examples of offshore wave power installations at Chahbahar area in the Omman Sea. The study aims at showing the physical possibilities of wave energy and electric power generation based upon point-absorbers and attenuator devices in the selected site. This site has been chosen to represent a range of offshore wave climates around Chahbahar area. Hindcasting data is used allowing estimations of wave energy generated and results show promising conditions in this area. Wave climate power density, or incident wave power per meter of WEC device reach a maximum value 24 kW/m with monthly maximum 01 9.70 kW/m and annual average equals to 4.14 kW/m. We study power recoverable possibility for three different wave energy devices, based on their published power matrices; 750 kW Pelamis device, hypothetical modified 1500 kW Pelamis device and hypothetical 750 kW Single Point Absorber (SPA). Results show corresponding annual electric energy generation for this devices are 0.32 GWh, 4.9 GWh and 2 GWh respectively. Finally, we determine appropriate WEC device for selected site. Also, we propose a solution for some environmental problem. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.