The document discusses the construction of a wave energy converter in Greece. It proposes building an overtopping breakwater in the harbor of Heraklion, Crete that would serve the dual purpose of protecting the harbor from waves while also producing electricity from wave energy. The breakwater would work by exploiting running-up waves that overtop into a reservoir and are then returned to the ocean through low-head turbines to generate an estimated 290 MWh of electricity per year, enough to power 83 households. The design is intended to reduce costs compared to conventional breakwaters while helping Greece achieve its renewable energy goals.

1. Abstract
The global search for competitive and reliable Renewable Energy
Sources (R.E.S.), due to the limited availability of fossil fuels, the
environmental impact they cause and because of the continuous
growing demand for energy, is presented stronger than ever. In order
to use R.E.S. in the best possible way, the European Union has set
some goals for Europe of 2020. According to them, for the particular
case studied, that of Greece, the participation of energy produced from
R.E.S. in gross final energy consumption should reach 20% from 13.8%
currently.
In this thesis has been studied the construction of a wave energy
converter. Among the R.E.S. wave energy has the highest energy
density (1000 kW / m wave front) and the fact that the ¾ of our planet's
surface are covered by oceans, makes the source highly promising. Up
to date there have been developed several mechanisms converting
wave energy into electricity which are located either on the shoreline or
near shore or offshore. This study proposes the construction of an
overtopping breakwater for energy conversion, with the intention to
reduce the cost of constructing, and satisfy, at the same time, the need
for redesign of harbors in view of climate change. The location chosen
for the suggested energy construction is the harbor of Heraklion, Crete.
This provides a construction which performs a dual role: protecting the
harbor from waves while producing energy. The selection criteria of this
particular location were the facts that the island does not belong to the
interconnected electricity system of the country and its favorable wave
climate.
The working principle of the proposed construction is based on the
exploitation of the running-up waves. Since the waves run up a smooth
impermeable slope, they overtop into a reservoir, where they are
temporarily stored. Afterwards, the water is returned into the ocean
through a set of low-head Kaplan turbines that converts the energy of
the waves into electricity. This achieves the production of energy, which
for the case studied, has been calculated at 290 MWh per year, enough
energy to satisfy the energy needs of 83 households per year. Regarding
the cost of manufacturing, this has been calculated slightly increased
compared to a conventional breakwater, which makes the device
competitive and economically advantageous.
To sum up, the proposed breakwater for wave energy conversion
is a relative low cost construction, which protects the harbor from
waves, helps Heraklion reduce its oil dependence and gets our country
a step closer to achieving the goals of Europe 2020 project regarding
the R.E.S..