An Evaluation of the Wind Energy Resources along the Spanish Continental Nearshore

Florin Onea, Andrés Ruiz and Eugen Rusu
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Florin Onea: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Dunarea de Jos University of Galati, 47 Domneasca Street, 800008 Galati, Romania
Andrés Ruiz: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Engineering, Universidad de Valladolid, Paseo del Cauce, 59, 47002 Valladolid, Spain
Eugen Rusu: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Dunarea de Jos University of Galati, 47 Domneasca Street, 800008 Galati, Romania

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 15, 1-23

Abstract: The main objective of the present work is to provide a comprehensive picture of the wind conditions in the Spanish continental nearshore considering a state-of-the-art wind dataset. In order to do this, the ERA5 wind data, covering the 20-year time interval from 1999 to 2018, was processed and evaluated. ERA stands for ’ECMWF Re-Analysis’ and refers to a series of research projects at ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) which produced various datasets. In addition to the analysis of the wind resources (reported for a 100 m height), the performances of several wind turbines, ranging from 3 to 9.5 MW, were evaluated. From the analysis of the spatial maps it was observed that the Northern part of this region presents significant wind resources, the mean wind speed values exceeding 9 m/s in some locations. On the other hand, in regard to the Southern sector, more energetic conditions are visible close to the Strait of Gibraltar and to the Gulf of Lion. Nevertheless, from the analysis of the data corresponding to these two Southern nearshore points it was observed that the average wind speed was lower than 8 m/s in both summer and winter months. Regarding the considered wind turbines, the capacity factor did in general not exceed 20%—however, we did observe some peaks that could reach to 30%. Finally, it can be highlighted that the Northern part of the Spanish continental nearshore is significant from the perspective of extracting offshore wind energy, especially considering the technologies based on floating platforms. Furthermore, because of the clear synergy between wind and wave energy, which are characteristic to this coastal environment, an important conclusion of the present work is that the implementation of joint wind–wave projects might be effective in the Northwestern side of the Iberian nearshore.

Keywords: wind power; turbines; offshore; Iberian Peninsula; efficiency; ERA5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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