TITLE:
Studies Concerning the Influence of the Wave Farms on the Nearshore Processes
AUTHORS:
Andrei Tănase Zanopol, Florin Onea, Eugen Rusu
KEYWORDS:
Black Sea, Wave Farms, Energy, SWAN, Coastal Processes
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Geosciences,
Vol.5 No.7,
June
23,
2014
ABSTRACT:
The main objective
of the present work is to evaluate the impact on the nearshore waves and coastal
processes of a generic wave farm. The target area considered is in the Romanian
nearshore, in the vicinity of the Mamaia sector, coastal environment usually subjected
to a strong erosion process. A picture of the wave conditions in this coastal environment
is first provided by analyzing some in situ data registered at the Gloria drilling unit, which operates offshore the area of
interest at about 50 meters water depth. A high resolution numerical modeling framework
was implemented in the target area. This is based on the SWAN spectral model (Simulating
Waves Nearshore) for waves and the 1D circulation model SURF (or the Navy Standard
Surf Model) to assess the nearshore currents. The presence of the farm in the
computational domain was represented by using the command obstacle, which is
available in SWAN, and considering various transmission and reflection
coefficients. Different wave farm configurations have been considered by adjusting
the transmission and the reflection coefficients associated with the wave farm,
between a no farm scenario and a fully developed project (corresponding to the
case of total absorption). The influence of the farm on the wave field was
quantified by performing analyses in the geographical space concerning the
variability of the significant wave height. The results look interesting and
they indicate that besides the production of the electric power, the presence
of the wave farms may have a positive influence on controlling the coastal
processes, reducing the erosion and giving in general more stability to the
coastal environment, especially during the extreme storm conditions.