A 33-year hindcast on wave energy assessment in the western French coast

A 33-year hindcast is presented to quantify the wave energy resource available in the Atlantic coast of France, showing its availability and variability. The evaluation of the waves is performed using WAVE WATCH III model for the Atlantic Ocean and SWAN model for the western French coast. The hindcast was validated in a prior study, presenting good results. Given the growing need of a good description of the wave climate in any given location, this study intends to provide a more robust characterization of the wave climate, combining previous results with the new studies, leading to a 33-year hindcast for the western coast of France, focussing in the test site area of the SEM-REV location. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.