Development of an Original Wave Energy Resource Assessment and Converter Design Optimisation Framework for the Nigerian Continental Shelf

Wave energy represents an abundant and largely unexploited renewable energy resource along the Nigerian continental shelf, with the potential to contribute to coastal electrification and offshore power supply if harnessed through appropriately designed converter systems. This study develops an original integrated framework combining wave energy resource assessment methodology with converter design optimisation, applied to the Nigerian continental shelf from the Bight of Benin to the Bight of Biafra. The research employs a computational engineering methodology, utilising third-generation wave spectral modelling using the WAVEWATCH III model forced with ERA5 reanalysis wind fields to characterise the spatiotemporal distribution of wave energy resources across the continental shelf at ten-kilometre resolution over a twenty-year simulation period. A wave energy converter performance optimisation model is developed using a frequency-domain dynamic analysis framework combined with multi-objective evolutionary optimisation to simultaneously maximise annual energy production and minimise levelised cost of energy for three converter technology classes: oscillating water column, point absorber, and attenuator. The original contribution lies in the development of a resource-to-technology matching algorithm that identifies optimal converter type and dimensions as a function of site-specific wave climate characteristics. Application of the framework identifies twelve high-potential deployment zones along the Nigerian shelf with levelised cost of energy estimates competitive with current diesel generation costs at coastal locations. Keywords: wave energy, resource assessment, converter optimisation, Nigerian continental shelf, levelised cost of energy