A preliminary wave energy exploitation assessment in the Northern Thyrrenian sea

A preliminary wave energy exploitation assessment for the Northern Thyrrenian coast is developed on the basis of a 34 years wave hindcast dataset characterized by a high resolution in time and space. Available wave power has been evaluated for two harbors along the Ligurian Coast that are expecting to have significant changes in the breakwaters layout. In particular, new possible configurations of port plan have been analyzed for Genova and Vado Ligure (Savona) harbors, and preliminary assessment of wave energy conversion has been developed taking into account the installation of different types of wave energy converters on the future breakwaters. Indeed, possible wave energy exploitation has been evaluated considering the devices' efficiencies estimated in previous studies and the overall length of the harbor seawalls.