Abstract:
Ocean waves are a power-dense, predictable source of clean and sustainable
energy that has not yet been exploited to any significant extent in Malaysia.
The lack of suitable sheltered sites is forcing mariculture farmers to move to
more exposed offshore locations in order to provide for continued growth in
the industry. However, as farmers move to more exposed sites for on-growing,
extreme wave climate conditions must be regarded as a normal environmental
condition. The present work aims to evaluate the wave climate condition in
Merang, which is traditionally considered as being more energetic. The study
was based on data collected during the period of 2008 and 2010. From the
analysis following features of the wave climate in the area of study was
identified. The months November to January has the highest probability of
occurrence of waves with significant wave heights greater than one meter.
The frequency of occurrence of wave heights l e s s t h a n 0 . 5 m occurred
approximately equally in May, June, July and August. The wave mean
periods greater than 5 s were encountered in November, December and
January. In general, the wave mean periods were greater than 3s through out
the year. The dominant wave direction was from the northern sector
accounted more than 64% and the southern sector percentage was around
20%. Therefore, potential wave renewable energy is mainly available during
November to January. However, system for mariculture in this location
should be designed to take into account these wave climate conditions. This
analysis is a prerequisite for further investigations extended in time and area
of coverage.
