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Journal of Ocean Engineering and Marine Energy, vol.11, no.3, pp.733-745, 2025 (ESCI, Scopus)
This paper assesses the energy production potential of Overtopping Breakwater for Energy Conversion (OBREC) for the selected underutilized fishery breakwaters along Turkey's Black Sea coast. This wave energy converter (WEC) type provides wave energy production and coastal defense, as it can be fully integrated into rubble mound breakwaters. Four fishery harbors were selected based on the demand and the characteristics of the main breakwater to initiate discussions on the efficiency of breakwater-integrated WECs along Turkey's Black Sea coast. The SWAN wave model was used to analyze the offshore and nearshore wave climate using 42-year wave data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ERA-5 database. An optimization algorithm was developed and applied to the simulated nearshore wave conditions to determine the dimensions and energy generation potentials of OBREC-type WECs. The results suggest that OBREC could be a viable renewable energy solution along Turkey's Black Sea coast with further optimization and improvements in turbine selection.