Global climate change impacts on wave energy potential along the south coast of Sri Lanka

Abstract

The direct south-west swell wave approach and relatively narrow continental shelf create more favorable conditions for wave energy harvesting in Sri Lankan coastal region. South coast of Sri Lanka has the most energetic ocean waves which are highly modulated by the south-west monsoon winds. In this study, numerically projected ocean waves simulated using Simulating Waves Nearshore (SWAN) model for two time slices which represent the 'present' and 'future' (end-of-century) are used to evaluate the impact of global climate change on wave energy resource in the south coast of Sri Lanka. The results reveal that there will be a slight reduction of average available wave power in the west, south and east coasts of Sri Lanka in the future. Changes of wave heights during the south-west monsoon season can be identified as the reason for this reduction of wave power.