Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Wave Energy Capacity in The Northern South China Sea Region Using the SWAN Model

This paper conducts a comprehensive 10-year wave energy capacity assessment for the Northern South China Sea (NSCS) region by using the SWAN model. The results indicate that the distribution of wave energy capacity varies significantly in both space and time. The high-energy area surrounded by 10-kW/m isoline is found in the southeastern deep-water zone (115°E ~ 116°E, 19.5°N ~ 20°N) of the study area, while the nearshore areas show a relatively low energy level (2kW/m ~ 4kW/m). Meanwhile, the seasonal characteristics are generally driven by the monsoon. Specifically, the strong northeastern monsoon contributes to abundant energy potential in winter and spring with maximum about 13 and 21 kW/m, respectively. The relatively lower energy levels (< 5kW/m) are found in summer and autumn under the relatively weaker monsoon. But most part of the study area can be defined as the exploitable area (>2kW/m) in all seasons, which demonstrates the great potential of wave energy harvesting in the NSCS region. Furthermore, a more specific sub-domain investigation is also conducted to characterize the dominate wave directions in different areas. Strong spatio-temporal dependency is identified.