Ocean Wave Energy Along Terengganu Coast of Malaysia A.M. Muzathik 1 * , W.B. Wan Nik 1 , M.Z. Ibrahim 2 and K.B. Samo 1 1 Maritime Technology Department, 2 Engineering Science Department, University Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia * Corresponding author; Tel: +6096683342, Fax; +6096683193, e-mail: muzathik64@yahoo.com Abstract- Wave energy has a number of significant advantages with respect to other renewable energy sources – predictability, abundance, high load factor and low environmental impact, among others. Its late beginning relative to other renewable energy sources is down to the technological challenges that it poses. In addition to developing commercially viable wave energy converters, the resource characterization is a crucial point towards the exploitation of wave energy. Wave power along the Terengganu coast of Malaysia was analyzed at a time scale of months to examine the seasonal dependencies. The area of interest is the Terengganu coast of Malaysia bounded by latitudes between 3.5 o N and 6.5 o N and longitudes between 102 o E and 104.0 o E. The study was based on two-hourly data collected from wave measurement stations covering the period from January 1998 to August 2009. These investigations show that the Terengganu coast of Malaysia could provide a source of low wave power. The wave climate in the Terengganu coast is among the harsh in Malaysia. The total wave energy was found to be 17.69 MWh/m in an average year, whereas the average wave power varied between 0.15 to 6.49 kW/m. Moreover, the wave climate of the area was studied in order to characterize the sea states behind the wave energy availability. It was found that in this area more than 60% of the annual wave energy is provided by significant wave heights between 20 to 120 cm and waves with peak periods between 2 to 8 s accounted for more than 70% of the total wave energy. The main directions in terms of wave energy for whole year are N, which accounts for more than 40%, followed at some distance by NE, SW and S. Further, its high wave energy potential is available during northeast monsoon season and in general the main directions in terms of wave energy are N and NE, which accounts more than 80% of the total wave energy, which may be used as a reference for this area. It may be concluded that the Terengganu coast of Malaysia can consider northeast monsoon period for wave energy exploitation. Keywords: Significant wave height; Terengganu; Wave direction; Wave energy; Wave period; Wave power I. INTRODUCTION Wave energy has a number of significant advantages with respect to other renewable energy sources – predictability, abundance, high load factor and low environmental impact, among others. Its late beginning relative to other renewable energy sources is down to the technological challenges that it poses. In addition to developing commercially viable wave energy converters, the resource characterization is a crucial point towards the exploitation of wave energy. The development of renewable energy sources together with the expansion of those currently exploited is crucial in reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases as prescribed by the Kyoto protocol. Amongst renewable energy sources, ocean waves contain the highest energy density. This allows for substantial energy generation in relatively small areas from a virtually inexhaustible energy source. Ocean wave energy has the potential to become commercially viable quicker than other renewable technologies, achieving the fastest growth rate of all energy sources and generating significant wealth [1-3]. Wave energy presents a number of advantages with respect to other renewable energy sources such as high availability factor compare with other resources (eg. wind, solar), resource predictability, high power density, relatively high utilization factor and low environmental and visual impact [4]. It has been estimated that if less than 0.1% of the renewable energy available within the oceans could be converted into electricity, it would satisfy the present world demand for energy more than five times over. Environmentally, wave energy conversion appears to be relatively benign. In spite of these advantages, wave energy exploitation is still in its infancy due to technological challenges still ahead. Ocean wave energy has not yet been exploited to any significant extent in Malaysia, or elsewhere in the world. However, wave energy conversion still remains a part of novel technologies to be explored for most countries [5]. Countries with wave conditions favorable for energy conversion have been pursuing ways to further develop this novel technology.