PROBABILISTIC ASSESSMENT OF OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY POTENTIAL ALONG THE SPANISH COAST FOR 10-MW WIND TURBINES

Wind energy is among the renewables that have grown the fastest in recent times. Since it can be considered as a notably clean and sustainable alternative, this trend is likely to continue in the years to come. In particular, offshore wind energy has received an increasing amount of attention for two main reasons: i) its high energy potential and ii) the difficulty certain countries experience in finding suitable terrain for new onshore wind farms. For this reason, the Spanish Coast is seen as a promising area in terms of its offshore wind energy potential. The first step in planning offshore wind farms is to carry out a thorough characterisation of the wind resource. For the first time, this paper addresses how the Spanish Coast potential- both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean- can be assessed through seven probability distributions (the Weibull, Rayleigh, Nakagami, Gamma, Normal, Lognormal and Inverse Gaussian). These distributions are then compared in terms of six different metrics. The results show that the Weibull, Rayleigh and Nakagami are usually the best options. A 10-MW wind turbine was used to estimate the yearly average production. The Galician coast obtained the highest-performing results, although certain Mediterranean areas also achieved acceptable values. Keywords: Offshore wind energy; Sustainable energy systems; Spanish Coast; Wind speed; Probability distribution; 10-MW turbine