Exploration of Wind-Wave Energy Potentials for Renewable Energy Development in Parts of Ondo Coastal and Offshore Locations, Southwestern Nigeria

The study explored wind-wave energy distribution in parts of Ondo State coastal and offshore locations, Nigeria. This was to identify suitable locations for the deployment of wind turbines and wave energy converters (WEC) for the government’s proposed renewable energy initiative in the area. It involved the use of daily, one-hourly averaged wave height, wave period, and 10 m wind speed data spanning from January 1, 1989, to December 31, 2023, derived from ERA5 reanalysis data sets. The wave height and wave period data were used to compute the wave power density, while the 10 m wind speed data was used to estimate the wind power density. The two-parameter Weibull distribution function with the gamma function was used to compute the wind power density. The threshold condition of wave power density above 6 kW/m and a coefficient of variation below 2.0 was used to determine the relatively rich energy regions of wave power. Also, the wind power classification was used to determine the class of dominant wind power in the area. Results revealed that the wave power varied from 0.01–4.57 kW/m, while the wind power varied from 7.66–83.43 W/m². The southwestern part of the study area (offshore) exhibited the largest wind power density. The studied locations were adjudged unsuitable for large-scale wind-wave energy generation. The energy potentials could only be adequate for non-grid-connected electrical and mechanical applications. However, probing deeper offshore could detect bankable regions of wind-wave energy deposits.