Array design and levelized cost of energy of wave energy farm

In November 2020, the EU Commission unveiled an ambitious offshore renewable energy strategy, targeting at least 60 GW of offshore wind and 1 GW of ocean energy by 2030, escalating to 300 GW and 40 GW respectively by 2050. Wave energy emerges as a crucial element in realizing these goals, especially in light of The Strategic Energy Technology Plan's cost-reduction targets for tidal and wave energy technologies, aiming for competitive pricing by 2025 and 2030. This thesis developes a tool, based on the MORE-EST Platform from MOREnergy Lab, for the array designing and economic assessment of wave energy converters, leveraging QGIS and Python. The process begins with the visualization of potential sites for WEC arrays, considering restriction, technical, and economic criteria to identify viable locations. Following this, users can input array configuration parameters to generate and evaluate a WEC farm's design within the selected site. This includes analyzing device interactions within the array and optimizing the configuration to maximize annual energy production, assessed through the q factor. Lastly, the tool further calculates the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) for the array, using relevant cost functions to identify the most cost-effective configuration. Overall, this thesis contributes a practical tool for stakeholders in the offshore energy sector, facilitating the strategic siting and design of WEC farms with an emphasis on technical feasibility and economic viability.