A spatial analysis of the offshore wind energy potential related to the Mediterranean islands

Abstract

The objective of this work is to provide a comprehensive picture of the benefits that may occur from the implementation of some offshore wind projects in the island environments from the Mediterranean Sea. This takes into account the fact that in the Mediterranean Sea there are many relatively densely populated islands As a first step, the wind speed fields (at 100 m height) provided by the ERA5 dataset is processed to obtain a general image of the wind energy potential in the entire area. Some significant island environments are targeted, as for example Sardinia, Cyprus, or Malta, for which a more detailed analysis is carried out. Considering the Exclusive Economic Zones, the most promising areas in terms of the wind conditions are highlighted. This is the case of the areas located near Sardinia or Cyprus, where the average wind speed is close to 9 m/s. The results of the study also show that the best performances of a wind turbine are expected in the north-western part of this basin, where a generator can operate on a full capacity for at least 6% of the time.

Keywords

• Mediterranean Sea
• Exclusive economic zones
• Offshore wind
• Wind turbine
• Spatial maps
• ERA5