Multi-criteria evaluation of wave energy projects on the south-east Australian coast
Introduction
Diminishing fossil fuel reserves and concern about global warming have stimulated the advancement of alternative energy sources. Concurrently, as energy demand and awareness of the need for renewable energy sources increase, interest in alternative forms of energy from marine resources, such as those produced by waves and tides, are receiving global attention. This has the potential to be translated into increased investment into wave energy projects and their implementation in the future.
Australia has long been identified as one of the world’s best wave energy resources [63]. Recent studies have shown that the Australian Southern Margin is one of the world’s most energetic areas suitable for the extraction of wave energy for electricity production, with an average yearly power of about 30 kW/m at the 25 m isobath [4], [31], [34]. Moreover, Australia’s distinct population distribution with over 80% found within 50 km of the coast [35] strengthen the need to facilitate the development of renewable energy projects within proximity to energy demand centres while also reducing the country high reliance on fossil fuels for electricity production (over 95% in the state of Victoria alone [3]). The state of Victoria has recently released an action plan which principal objective is to accelerate the development of renewable energy generation with a goal of 20% of electricity generation by renewables by 2020 [60].
While several Australian companies have deployed single pilot wave energy converters (WEC) in the marine environment, the next phase of development will most likely be the deployment of full generation parks with dozens of units forming wave farms. This next stage is already underway in Western Australia with Carnegie Wave Energy Limited having installed multiple devices in its pilot test site at Garden Island near Perth in March 2015 [65].
The development of wave farms imposes restrictions on the accessibility and use of the surrounding marine space, introducing the risk of conflicts with other marine resource users and stakeholders. Other renewable energy projects, such as onshore [15] and offshore [38] wind farms, have already faced such challenges and benefited from using a transparent and robust spatial planning process, commencing at project inception, to increase the chance for public acceptance and institutional support.
This paper presents a methodology based on geo-spatial Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) in order to identify optimal locations to deploy a wave energy farm while minimizing conflicts with other coastal and offshore users. We present a case study along a stretch of coast in excess of 500 km in south-east Australia where a MCE methodology is applied. The justification for the choice of major criteria, sub-factors used in the study, and sensitivity to parameters employed are discussed. We then present the implications of the MCE approach to the study area including the sensitivity of parameters and influence on site selection.
The paper is structured as follows. Section 2 introduces the methodology and the preliminary screening process with the project stakeholders. Section 3 provides a presentation of all 18 GIS parameters considered within the MCE. Section 4 details the generation process of the five major criteria used to identify the most suitable sites. The application of the methodology and results for the case study are then presented and supplemented with a sensitivity analysis. Finally Section 5 presents conclusions and recommendations for future works.
Section snippets
Multi-criteria evaluation (MCE)
Most of the recent efforts in relation to WEC planning in Australia have been on resource characterisation, at a regional scale at best [4], [31], [34]. While it is obvious that the wave energy resource will have a great influence on the choice of a project site, studies in Europe [16], [26], [46], [48], [68], [69] North Africa [58] and North-America [39] recently highlighted the need to take in account the technical and socio-economic factors in the marine spatial planning process at a
Presentation of the study area
The study area (Fig. 2) extended from Port Phillip Bay and Melbourne in the east to the South Australian-Victorian border in the west, encompassing more than 500 km of coastline and an analyses extent covering over 11,800 km2. The offshore extent of the study area was set to 12 Nautical miles (nm), corresponding to the legal definition of the “Territorial Sea”. Australia’s sovereignty extends to the Territorial Sea, its seabed and subsoil, and to the air space above it [27]. The study area
Major criteria classification
The WC criteria layer (Fig. 9) was designed to take into account the yearly average wave power available, a minimum wave height cut-off and the extreme wave conditions at the site previously calculated. Each of these three (3) factors were normalised, attributed a weight or a restrictive status (Table 1) and summed to create the major criteria describing the wave climate at the site, with site suitability increasing with this criterion value.
The generation of the seabed (SB) criteria layer (
Conclusions
In this study we present a methodology for selecting the most suitable locations for Wave Energy Conversion considering technical, socio-economic, and environmental parameters. The suitability of the sites was evaluated based on five essential criteria; the quality of the wave energy resource, the proximity of infrastructure, the suitability of the seabed, restrictions associated with environmental factors and an emphasis on limiting conflicts with other users of the marine space.
The procedure
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