Experimental assessment on the performance and sustainability of an oscillating water column device wall–mounted on a vertical breakwater

Development of ocean energy is a key factor in the commitment to the sustainable use of natural resources. In particular, wave energy conversion from Oscillating Water Column technology represents a versatile alternative for ocean energy harvesting, playing a major role within Blue Economy sectors, with straight implications in power supply to port activities and sustainable use of resources. This research assesses the feasibility of the deployment of an OWC power plant wall–mounted on a vertical breakwater from the energy production and the renewability and sustainability perspectives. Results show that the annual average energy production can increase up to 188 ∼ 258 % compared to the case of an off–shore one due to the standing or partially standing wave conditions created. Moreover, the simplicity of the wall–mounted OWC increases the sustainability of the power plant evaluated through the exergy and emergy assessment. The global transformity —which indicates the efficiency in the use of the resources from Nature— for that configuration is ∼ 76 % lower than in the case of the off–shore configuration. In addition, thermo–mechanic analysis through exergy assessment indicates that those devices are environmentally favourable since the renewability index is higher than 5. Therefore, wall–mounted OWC power plant increases the energy production, sustainability and renewability compared to the off–shore configuration.