Wave energy is a rich and highly accessible renewable energy resource, that has largely been under-developed. Studies from the sector have tried to show the potential of benefits wave energy in “simple cases” or via small hybrid systems, the large scale incorporation of wave energy has not yet been fully investigated. Our approach uses a fully dynamic climate driven energy system model, which has undergone modifications to include wave energy converters and their associated dependencies. This study explores the system dynamics and important elements that will be used for large scale wave energy integration; in a fully coupled European Energy System. We explore the cost pathways of different wave energy converters, the impact of climate data, and the impact of transmission capacity expansion under cost-optimal configurations of a multi-renewable European power system. From this preliminary approach we aim to provide the boundary conditions, and assumptions that will govern the integration of wave energy into the European Energy System up to 2050.@en

Many questions remain regarding the exploitation of wave energy and its interaction with our energy systems. Particularly about their likely role in future multi-renewable power systems, given the resource’s abundance, predictability, and high energy density. The objective of this paper is to present the expansion of the renewable energy capabilities of an open-source dynamic energy system model with novel wave energy converters subroutines paired with high-resolution metocean from the ERA5. The expansion allows for the model to assess the wave energy technical resource across Europe’s coastlines; Estimate the renewable wave energy capacity potential; Derive renewable wave generation availability time series of different devices; And consider wave energy technologies in a power flow optimization of the European transmission grid. It establishes the basis to perform future exploratory investigations of wave energy converters under a high renewable European electricity grid.@en