Site Description

In policies, standards, and guidelines, wave and tidal current energy development is typically classified into the following three stages: “Reconnaissance”, “Feasibility Study (FS)”, and “Design”. This portal site provides information on energy resources suitable for the reconnaissance and FS stages. Based on European and planned Japanese standards, long-time high-resolution numerical simulations were conducted to serve as a foundation for these stages.

Wave power and wave parameters are provided at a 1 km resolution along the coast of Japan. The wave dataset covers a 21-year period from 1994 to 2014 and contains climatological maps, time-series data, and joint probability density distributions of wave height and period. Ocean and tidal current power, thermal power, and various ocean parameters are provided at a 3 km resolution in the seas near Japan. This dataset contains climatological maps and depth-profiles and covers a 10-year period from 2002 to 2011 which also includes the influence of the Kuroshio large meander.

Data is provided through a user-friendly interactive interface termed, Marine Energy Web GIS. It is possible to create maps for user-defined regions, and read numerical values and make time-series plots at user-selected locations. Hourly wave data is also provided for limited regions.

The Marine Energy Web Portal serves data generated under sponsorship of the NEDO project, “Research on the Framework and Infrastructure of Marine Renewable Energy; an Energy Potential Assessment”.