Pre-operational site comparison studies for Wave Energy Converters (WECs) typically do not account for potential dependencies between site selection criteria. This study addressed this gap by developing a novel copula-based site comparison framework that evaluated the trade-off between extreme loads and power production while incorporating their dependency. The results showed that dependencies may exist between these criteria and that accounting for them could improve conventional site comparison approaches. Additionally, the study was extended to an operational context, enabling operators to anticipate future operational periods with relatively high or low probabilities of failure...