This paper assesses operational impacts of large-scale ocean wave energy development in the US Pacific Northwest. High-resolution wave power production and forecasting data is synthesized for wave energy arrays spatially-distributed along the region's coast. Geographic diversification is found to limit the rate at which production variability scales with installed capacity, over timescales ranging from minutes to hours. The reduced variability makes it easier to forecast short-term wave generation accurately. When modeled within the operational structure of the region's primary balancing area authority, large-scale wave energy is found to provide a relatively high capacity value and costs less to integrate than equivalent amounts of wind energy. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.