Abstract
The significant advances in the past years towards the consolidation of wave energy as a major renewable warrant the investigation of the synergies between this novel resource and coastal defence. The aim of this work is to examine the effects of a wave farm operating at different distances from the coastline on the beach morphology. On the one hand, the impacts of the wave farms on the sediment transport are assessed. On the other hand, how the farm affects the modal state of the beach with reference to a baseline (no farm) scenario is examined. For this purpose, a high-resolution nearshore wave propagation model is coupled to a coastal processes model to assess the wave farm impacts on the beach. The wave farm is found to reduce significantly the erosion in the beach. This is a bonus to be added to the primary role of the wave farm – and one which enhances its economic viability by leading to savings in conventional coastal defence measures.