Offshore wind and wave energy on the European Atlantic shelf: A multi-decadal high-resolution metocean analysis

There is a significant difference between theoretical offshore renewable energy (ORE) resource assessments and actual net energy yield considering device technical specifications and logistical weather window constraints. This study conducts a high-resolution geospatial assessment of Western European waters using 30 years of hourly metocean data from the new ECHOWAVE hindcast dataset. Logistical weather windows have been modelled to penalise the raw technical resource of commercial-scale ORE device specifications to get a more realistic picture of the net energy yield. Scenarios have considered the IEA 15MW reference wind turbine and a 20MW wave energy cluster for energy production. For operations, a CTV (Crew Transfer Vessel) and SOV (Service Operation Vessel) for have been considered separately and compared. While raw wind energy yield peaks in the Atlantic, net yield is maximized in the more sheltered and accessible Irish Sea and North Sea when a CTV is considered. However, transitioning to an SOV strategy effectively rehabilitates the Atlantic resource by lifting annual operational accessibility to 60–70 %. Wave energy also faces a steep logistical penalty dictated by the choice of maintenance strategy: under CTV constraints, net energy yield drops by roughly 44 % from gross peaks, though the highest net-yielding zones expand eastward from the Atlantic core resource. Conversely, utilising SOVs substantially mitigates these accessibility constraints, demonstrating that advanced logistics represent an absolute baseline necessity for utility-scale wave viability. 30-year historical metocean peaks have also been mapped in this study, identifying extreme significant wave heights exceeding 20 m and wind speeds over 40 m/s in the North Atlantic. The findings highlight how high-resolution metocean datasets such as ECHOWAVE can provide highly valuable information for site selection and planning of commercial ORE projects, as the sector scales up over the coming decades.