The use of scenarios in the marine space to define the localization of the access corridor to a wave energy structure

Abstract

Wave energy is still at a very early stage of development. As so, there are a wide variety of structures and forms of energy conversion. In order to help the development of such energy, the Portuguese central government, wanting to increase renewable energy utilization, created a special area near São Pedro de Moel exclusively for the implementation of wave energy converters. The legal framework defines this pilot zone (PZ), but doesn’t provide any information about the location of the access corridor of land to PZ. The definition of this corridor is essential to transform PZ into a reality, as the location of the submarine energy transport cable that will allow the produced energy to be sent to the distribution network at land depends of it. The present work, with the use of GIS and thematic mapping, allowed the visualization of the site and possible conflicts arising from the implementation of the structure. This study provides the results of the analysis of a possible alternative access corridor to the pilot zone. Research appeared to indicate the best location for this infrastructure. The methodology used on this studied proved to be a valuable tool on constraint analysis for planning and implementation of projects in coastal and marine areas and the results achieved are a proof that such a method can be of value on similar case studies where qualitative environmental impacts must be compared with technical projects constraints.