IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v14y2021i4p902-d496277.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Breaking-Down and Parameterising Wave Energy Converter Costs Using the CapEx and Similitude Methods

Author

Listed:
  • Ophelie Choupin

    (School of Engineering and Built Environment, and Griffith Centre for Coastal Management, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD 4222, Australia)

  • Michael Henriksen

    (Wavepiston, Helsingør, 3000 Hovedstaden, Denmark)

  • Amir Etemad-Shahidi

    (School of Engineering and Built Environment, and Griffith Centre for Coastal Management, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD 4222, Australia
    School of Engineering, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA 6027, Australia)

  • Rodger Tomlinson

    (School of Engineering and Built Environment, and Griffith Centre for Coastal Management, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD 4222, Australia)

Abstract

Wave energy converters (WECs) can play a significant role in the transition towards a more renewable-based energy mix as stable and unlimited energy resources. Financial analysis of these projects requires WECs cost and WEC capital expenditure (CapEx) information. However, (i) cost information is often limited due to confidentiality and (ii) the wave energy field lacks flexible methods for cost breakdown and parameterisation, whereas they are needed for rapid and optimised WEC configuration and worldwide site pairing. This study takes advantage of the information provided by Wavepiston to compare different costing methods. The work assesses the Froude-Law-similarities-based “Similitude method” for cost-scaling and introduces the more flexible and generic “CapEx method” divided into three steps: (1) distinguishing WEC’s elements from the wave energy farm (WEF)’s; (2) defining the parameters characterising the WECs, WEFs, and site locations; and (3) estimating elements that affect WEC and WEF elements’ cost and translate them into factors using the parameters defined in step (2). After validation from Wavepiston manual estimations, the CapEx method showed that the factors could represent up to 30% of the cost. The Similitude method provided slight cost-overestimations compared to the CapEx method for low WEC up-scaling, increasing exponentially with the scaling.

Suggested Citation

  • Ophelie Choupin & Michael Henriksen & Amir Etemad-Shahidi & Rodger Tomlinson, 2021. "Breaking-Down and Parameterising Wave Energy Converter Costs Using the CapEx and Similitude Methods," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-27, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:4:p:902-:d:496277
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/4/902/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/4/902/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mackay, Edward B.L. & Bahaj, AbuBakr S. & Challenor, Peter G., 2010. "Uncertainty in wave energy resource assessment. Part 1: Historic data," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 1792-1808.
    2. Chang, Grace & Jones, Craig A. & Roberts, Jesse D. & Neary, Vincent S., 2018. "A comprehensive evaluation of factors affecting the levelized cost of wave energy conversion projects," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 344-354.
    3. Astariz, S. & Perez-Collazo, C. & Abanades, J. & Iglesias, G., 2015. "Co-located wave-wind farms: Economic assessment as a function of layout," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 837-849.
    4. Allan, Grant & Gilmartin, Michelle & McGregor, Peter & Swales, Kim, 2011. "Levelised costs of Wave and Tidal energy in the UK: Cost competitiveness and the importance of "banded" Renewables Obligation Certificates," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 23-39, January.
    5. Lehmann, Marcus & Karimpour, Farid & Goudey, Clifford A. & Jacobson, Paul T. & Alam, Mohammad-Reza, 2017. "Ocean wave energy in the United States: Current status and future perspectives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 1300-1313.
    6. Jonas Bjerg Thomsen & Francesco Ferri & Jens Peter Kofoed & Kevin Black, 2018. "Cost Optimization of Mooring Solutions for Large Floating Wave Energy Converters," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-23, January.
    7. de Andrés, A.D. & Guanche, R. & Weber, J. & Costello, R., 2015. "Finding gaps on power production assessment on WECs: Wave definition analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 171-187.
    8. Florin Onea & Liliana Rusu, 2018. "Evaluation of Some State-Of-The-Art Wind Technologies in the Nearshore of the Black Sea," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-16, September.
    9. Dalton, G.J. & Alcorn, R. & Lewis, T., 2010. "Case study feasibility analysis of the Pelamis wave energy convertor in Ireland, Portugal and North America," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 443-455.
    10. Clark, Caitlyn E. & Miller, Annalise & DuPont, Bryony, 2019. "An analytical cost model for co-located floating wind-wave energy arrays," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 885-897.
    11. Dunnett, David & Wallace, James S., 2009. "Electricity generation from wave power in Canada," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 179-195.
    12. Babarit, A. & Hals, J. & Muliawan, M.J. & Kurniawan, A. & Moan, T. & Krokstad, J., 2012. "Numerical benchmarking study of a selection of wave energy converters," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 44-63.
    13. Astariz, S. & Iglesias, G., 2015. "The economics of wave energy: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 397-408.
    14. Carpintero Moreno, Efrain & Stansby, Peter, 2019. "The 6-float wave energy converter M4: Ocean basin tests giving capture width, response and energy yield for several sites," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 307-318.
    15. Myhr, Anders & Bjerkseter, Catho & Ågotnes, Anders & Nygaard, Tor A., 2014. "Levelised cost of energy for offshore floating wind turbines in a life cycle perspective," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 714-728.
    16. Falcone, Pasquale Marcello & Lopolito, Antonio & Sica, Edgardo, 2019. "Instrument mix for energy transition: A method for policy formulation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    17. Dalton, G.J. & Alcorn, R. & Lewis, T., 2012. "A 10 year installation program for wave energy in Ireland: A case study sensitivity analysis on financial returns," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 80-89.
    18. Laura Castro-Santos & Ana Rute Bento & Carlos Guedes Soares, 2020. "The Economic Feasibility of Floating Offshore Wave Energy Farms in the North of Spain," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-19, February.
    19. López, Iraide & Andreu, Jon & Ceballos, Salvador & Martínez de Alegría, Iñigo & Kortabarria, Iñigo, 2013. "Review of wave energy technologies and the necessary power-equipment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 413-434.
    20. Allan, Grant J. & Bryden, Ian & McGregor, Peter G. & Stallard, Tim & Kim Swales, J. & Turner, Karen & Wallace, Robin, 2008. "Concurrent and legacy economic and environmental impacts from establishing a marine energy sector in Scotland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(7), pages 2734-2753, July.
    21. Behrens, Sam & Hayward, Jennifer & Hemer, Mark & Osman, Peter, 2012. "Assessing the wave energy converter potential for Australian coastal regions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 210-217.
    22. Bonnard, Charles-Henri & Blavette, Anne & Bourguet, Salvy & Charmetant, Adrien, 2020. "Modeling of a wave farm export cable for electro-thermal sizing studies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(P1), pages 2387-2398.
    23. Adrian De Andres & Jéromine Maillet & Jørgen Hals Todalshaug & Patrik Möller & David Bould & Henry Jeffrey, 2016. "Techno-Economic Related Metrics for a Wave Energy Converters Feasibility Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-19, October.
    24. Clemente, D. & Rosa-Santos, P. & Taveira-Pinto, F., 2021. "On the potential synergies and applications of wave energy converters: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    25. Dietzenbacher, Erik & Kulionis, Viktoras & Capurro, Filippo, 2020. "Measuring the effects of energy transition: A structural decomposition analysis of the change in renewable energy use between 2000 and 2014," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    26. Aristodemo, Francesco & Algieri Ferraro, Danilo, 2018. "Feasibility of WEC installations for domestic and public electrical supplies: A case study off the Calabrian coast," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 261-285.
    27. Morim, Joao & Cartwright, Nick & Hemer, Mark & Etemad-Shahidi, Amir & Strauss, Darrell, 2019. "Inter- and intra-annual variability of potential power production from wave energy converters," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 1224-1241.
    28. Mackay, Edward B.L. & Bahaj, AbuBakr S. & Challenor, Peter G., 2010. "Uncertainty in wave energy resource assessment. Part 2: Variability and predictability," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 1809-1819.
    29. Vincenzo Piscopo & Guido Benassai & Renata Della Morte & Antonio Scamardella, 2018. "Cost-Based Design and Selection of Point Absorber Devices for the Mediterranean Sea," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-23, April.
    30. Beels, Charlotte & Troch, Peter & Kofoed, Jens Peter & Frigaard, Peter & Vindahl Kringelum, Jon & Carsten Kromann, Peter & Heyman Donovan, Martin & De Rouck, Julien & De Backer, Griet, 2011. "A methodology for production and cost assessment of a farm of wave energy converters," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 3402-3416.
    31. Behrens, Sam & Hayward, Jennifer A. & Woodman, Stuart C. & Hemer, Mark A. & Ayre, Melanie, 2015. "Wave energy for Australia's National Electricity Market," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 685-693.
    32. Ram, Manish & Aghahosseini, Arman & Breyer, Christian, 2020. "Job creation during the global energy transition towards 100% renewable power system by 2050," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    33. Kenny, R. & Law, C. & Pearce, J.M., 2010. "Towards real energy economics: Energy policy driven by life-cycle carbon emission," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 1969-1978, April.
    34. Guanche, R. & de Andrés, A.D. & Simal, P.D. & Vidal, C. & Losada, I.J., 2014. "Uncertainty analysis of wave energy farms financial indicators," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 570-580.
    35. Quero García, Pablo & Chica Ruiz, Juan Adolfo & García Sanabria, Javier, 2020. "Blue energy and marine spatial planning in Southern Europe," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    36. Robertson, Bryson & Bekker, Jessica & Buckham, Bradley, 2020. "Renewable integration for remote communities: Comparative allowable cost analyses for hydro, solar and wave energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    37. O'Connor, M. & Lewis, T. & Dalton, G., 2013. "Operational expenditure costs for wave energy projects and impacts on financial returns," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 1119-1131.
    38. Sharay Astariz & Gregorio Iglesias, 2015. "Enhancing Wave Energy Competitiveness through Co-Located Wind and Wave Energy Farms. A Review on the Shadow Effect," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-23, July.
    39. Laura Castro-Santos & Dina Silva & A. Rute Bento & Nadia Salvação & C. Guedes Soares, 2018. "Economic Feasibility of Wave Energy Farms in Portugal," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-16, November.
    40. Flocard, Francois & Ierodiaconou, Daniel & Coghlan, Ian R., 2016. "Multi-criteria evaluation of wave energy projects on the south-east Australian coast," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 80-94.
    41. Gunn, Kester & Stock-Williams, Clym, 2012. "Quantifying the global wave power resource," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 296-304.
    42. Milad Shadman & Corbiniano Silva & Daiane Faller & Zhijia Wu & Luiz Paulo de Freitas Assad & Luiz Landau & Carlos Levi & Segen F. Estefen, 2019. "Ocean Renewable Energy Potential, Technology, and Deployments: A Case Study of Brazil," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-37, September.
    43. Teillant, Boris & Costello, Ronan & Weber, Jochem & Ringwood, John, 2012. "Productivity and economic assessment of wave energy projects through operational simulations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 220-230.
    44. Eva Segura & Rafael Morales & José A. Somolinos, 2017. "Cost Assessment Methodology and Economic Viability of Tidal Energy Projects," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-27, November.
    45. Castro-Santos, Laura & Martins, Elson & Guedes Soares, C., 2016. "Cost assessment methodology for combined wind and wave floating offshore renewable energy systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 866-880.
    46. O'Connor, M. & Lewis, T. & Dalton, G., 2013. "Techno-economic performance of the Pelamis P1 and Wavestar at different ratings and various locations in Europe," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 889-900.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Choupin, Ophelie & Henriksen, Michael & Tomlinson, Rodger, 2022. "Interrelationship between variables for wave direction-dependent WEC/site-configuration pairs using the CapEx method," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    2. Enrico Giglio & Ermando Petracca & Bruno Paduano & Claudio Moscoloni & Giuseppe Giorgi & Sergej Antonello Sirigu, 2023. "Estimating the Cost of Wave Energy Converters at an Early Design Stage: A Bottom-Up Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-39, April.
    3. Yi Zhang & Dapeng Zhang & Haoyu Jiang, 2023. "A Review of Offshore Wind and Wave Installations in Some Areas with an Eye towards Generating Economic Benefits and Offering Commercial Inspiration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-32, May.
    4. Choupin, O. & Pinheiro Andutta, F. & Etemad-Shahidi, A. & Tomlinson, R., 2021. "A decision-making process for wave energy converter and location pairing," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    5. Choupin, O. & Têtu, A. & Del Río-Gamero, B. & Ferri, F. & Kofoed, JP., 2022. "Premises for an annual energy production and capacity factor improvement towards a few optimised wave energy converters configurations and resources pairs," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Choupin, Ophelie & Henriksen, Michael & Tomlinson, Rodger, 2022. "Interrelationship between variables for wave direction-dependent WEC/site-configuration pairs using the CapEx method," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    2. Chenglong Guo & Wanan Sheng & Dakshina G. De Silva & George Aggidis, 2023. "A Review of the Levelized Cost of Wave Energy Based on a Techno-Economic Model," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-30, February.
    3. Choupin, O. & Pinheiro Andutta, F. & Etemad-Shahidi, A. & Tomlinson, R., 2021. "A decision-making process for wave energy converter and location pairing," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    4. Choupin, O. & Têtu, A. & Del Río-Gamero, B. & Ferri, F. & Kofoed, JP., 2022. "Premises for an annual energy production and capacity factor improvement towards a few optimised wave energy converters configurations and resources pairs," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).
    5. Pasquale Contestabile & Enrico Di Lauro & Mariano Buccino & Diego Vicinanza, 2016. "Economic Assessment of Overtopping BReakwater for Energy Conversion (OBREC): A Case Study in Western Australia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-28, December.
    6. Astariz, S. & Iglesias, G., 2015. "The economics of wave energy: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 397-408.
    7. de Oliveira, Lucas & Santos, Ivan Felipe Silva dos & Schmidt, Nágila Lucietti & Tiago Filho, Geraldo Lúcio & Camacho, Ramiro Gustavo Ramirez & Barros, Regina Mambeli, 2021. "Economic feasibility study of ocean wave electricity generation in Brazil," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 1279-1290.
    8. Farrell, Niall & Donoghue, Cathal O’ & Morrissey, Karyn, 2015. "Quantifying the uncertainty of wave energy conversion device cost for policy appraisal: An Irish case study," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 62-77.
    9. Dalton, Gordon & Allan, Grant & Beaumont, Nicola & Georgakaki, Aliki & Hacking, Nick & Hooper, Tara & Kerr, Sandy & O’Hagan, Anne Marie & Reilly, Kieran & Ricci, Pierpaolo & Sheng, Wanan & Stallard, T, 2015. "Economic and socio-economic assessment methods for ocean renewable energy: Public and private perspectives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 850-878.
    10. Gao, Qiang & Yuan, Rui & Ertugrul, Nesimi & Ding, Boyin & Hayward, Jennifer A. & Li, Ye, 2023. "Analysis of energy variability and costs for offshore wind and hybrid power unit with equivalent energy storage system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 342(C).
    11. Guo, Bingyong & Ringwood, John V., 2021. "Geometric optimisation of wave energy conversion devices: A survey," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 297(C).
    12. Astariz, S. & Perez-Collazo, C. & Abanades, J. & Iglesias, G., 2015. "Co-located wave-wind farms: Economic assessment as a function of layout," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 837-849.
    13. Sharay Astariz & Gregorio Iglesias, 2015. "Enhancing Wave Energy Competitiveness through Co-Located Wind and Wave Energy Farms. A Review on the Shadow Effect," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-23, July.
    14. Dalton, Gordon & Bardócz, Tamás & Blanch, Mike & Campbell, David & Johnson, Kate & Lawrence, Gareth & Lilas, Theodore & Friis-Madsen, Erik & Neumann, Frank & Nikitas, Nikitakos & Ortega, Saul Torres &, 2019. "Feasibility of investment in Blue Growth multiple-use of space and multi-use platform projects; results of a novel assessment approach and case studies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 338-359.
    15. Clemente, D. & Rosa-Santos, P. & Taveira-Pinto, F., 2021. "On the potential synergies and applications of wave energy converters: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    16. Tunde Aderinto & Hua Li, 2018. "Ocean Wave Energy Converters: Status and Challenges," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-26, May.
    17. Morim, Joao & Cartwright, Nick & Etemad-Shahidi, Amir & Strauss, Darrell & Hemer, Mark, 2016. "Wave energy resource assessment along the Southeast coast of Australia on the basis of a 31-year hindcast," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 276-297.
    18. Coe, Ryan G. & Ahn, Seongho & Neary, Vincent S. & Kobos, Peter H. & Bacelli, Giorgio, 2021. "Maybe less is more: Considering capacity factor, saturation, variability, and filtering effects of wave energy devices," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 291(C).
    19. Clark, Caitlyn E. & Miller, Annalise & DuPont, Bryony, 2019. "An analytical cost model for co-located floating wind-wave energy arrays," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 885-897.
    20. Garcia-Teruel, A. & Forehand, D.I.M., 2021. "A review of geometry optimisation of wave energy converters," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:4:p:902-:d:496277. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.