Search Results (7)

Renewables are key pillars of the European Union’s (EU) strategy for green transition and climate neutrality. In particular, wind energy lies at the core of a sustainable framework regarding the energy policy (i.e., European Green Deal and REPowerEU plan) supporting clean, secure, and affordable electricity for a resilient future. In this study, Global Climate Models (GCMs) simulations were used to investigate the efficiency of GCMs to capture and reproduce the spatial and temporal features of Wind Energy Potential (WEP). The GCMs that have been used in this study are available in the context of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6). The analysis focuses on high-interest regions of the Eastern Mediterranean (EMed) during the summer season (JJA). The ERA5 reanalysis dataset was used as a reference data set. Furthermore, projected changes in WEP were calculated under two Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (the “moderate”, SSP2-4.5 and the “fossil-fueled development”, SSP5-8.5 scenarios), covering the period from 1970 to 2099. The results indicate that most GCMs underestimate mean WEP, with model performance ranging from “poor” to “good” scores based on the Kling–Gupta Efficiency index (−0.45 < KGE < 0.5). Future WEP projections show no consistent spatial patterns among GCMs. By the late 21st century, WEP is projected to decrease (about 10–15%) over the Southeastern Aegean and increase between Crete and Libya (about 10–15%) relative to the baseline historical period (1970–2000) under both SSP scenarios. Finally, findings provide elements for the WEP evolution over the Eastern Mediterranean, contributing to the EU energy policy. Full article

Under the threat of the climate crisis, renewables are an alternative that are aligned to European principles for clean energy and green transition strategies. Past studies have shown that the Eastern Mediterranean will present notable short- and long-term wind speed variability due to climate change. In this context, this study investigates the mean changes in wind energy potential (WEP) of a typical height of offshore turbines (80 m) over the climate sensitive area of the Aegean Sea during early, middle and late periods of the 21st century with reference to a base period (the historical period from 1970 to 2005). Data, available from EURO-CORDEX project under the moderate and extreme future scenarios (rcp4.5 and rcp8.5) as well as the recent past (historical) period (from 1970 to 2005), are analyzed here. In both future scenarios, the majority of model simulations indicates an increase in the WEP over the Aegean area as compared to the base period. In particular, the maximum increase in WEP is higher in the rcp8.5 scenario as compared to the rcp4.5 scenario. The most significant changes are shown over the southeastern (the straights between Crete and Rhodes Island) and the central-eastern Aegean area. Full article

The intensive use of fossil fuels for energy production harms the environment. The adoption of sustainable energy systems can reduce the damage. Wind energy is one of the most widely used renewable sources. The most important problem in establishing new wind power plants (WPPs) is estimating the wind energy potential (WEP) in potential installation locations where there are no measured data. Many geographic information system (GIS)-based studies have been conducted on this subject. In this study, based on the technical specifications of a wind turbine selected for the Kırklareli Province of Türkiye, wind speed maps at 125 m height were created using many station points with known locations and wind speeds and the WEP of Kırklareli was calculated. In addition, the WEP map of Kırklareli was created by first determining the areas where WPPs cannot be installed and creating the wind speed map. After removing exclusion areas where wind turbines cannot be installed, the wind speeds at 125 m ranged between 3.12 m/s and 8.51 m/s. The wind speed was found to be higher in the south of the province, and the total WEP in areas with wind speeds higher than 6 m/sec was 6628.21 MW. Full article

The electricity produced through renewable resources is dependent on the variability of weather conditions and, thus, on the availability of the resource, as is the case with wind energy. This study aims to assess the wind resource available and the wind energy potential (WEP) during the December months for the three years 2017, 2018, and 2019, in southwestern Europe, when several high-impact storms affected the region. Additionally, a comparison of Prandtl’s logarithmic law and Power-law equations for extrapolation of the vertical wind profile is performed for onshore conditions, to evaluate the differences in terms of energy production, with the use of different equations. To assess the effect of the strong winds associated with the storms, 10 m wind components are used, with a 6-hourly temporal resolution, for the December months over the southwestern Europe region (30° N–65° N; 40° W–25° E). Results are compared to the climatology (1981–2010) and show an increase of wind intensity of 1.86 m·s⁻¹ in southwestern Europe during December 2019, and a decrease up to 2.72 m·s⁻¹ in December 2018. WEP is calculated for the selected wind turbine, 4 MW E-126 EP3—ENERCON, as well as the values following the wind resource record, that is, (i) higher values in December 2019 in the offshore and onshore regions, reaching 35 MWh and 20 MWh per day, respectively, and (ii) lower values in December 2018, with 35 MWh and 15 MWh per day for offshore and onshore. Differences in WEP when using the two equations for extrapolation of wind vertical profile reached 60% (40%) in offshore (onshore) regions, except for the Alps, where differences of up to 80% were reached. An additional analysis was made to understand the influence of the coefficients of soil roughness and friction used in each equation (Prandtl’s logarithmic law and Power-law), for the different conditions of onshore and offshore. Finally, it is notable that the highest values of wind energy production occurred on the stormy days affecting southwestern Europe. Therefore, we conclude that these high-impact storms had a positive effect on the wind energy production in this region. Full article

Electricity production through renewable energy sources, such as wind energy, is dependent on the variability of weather conditions. Thus, this work aimed to assess the wind resource available and the wind energy potential (WEP) during recent December months (the three years 2017, 2018, 2019). These winters were characterized by the occurrence of high-impact storms. To understand the effect of the strong winds associated with the passage of the storms during these months, we used 10 m wind components (10-m U and V wind components). The fields were extracted at 00, 06, 12, and 18 UTC (6-hourly data) for the 2017, 2018, and 2019 December months over a geographical sector that covers the Iberian Peninsula (IP) region (35° N–45° N; 10° W–4° E) and compared to climatological values for the 1981–2010 period. The obtained results showed an increase of wind intensity of up to 1.2 m·s⁻¹ in IP during December 2017 and 2019 and a decrease of 1.2 m·s⁻¹ in December 2018 when compared with the respective climatology for the 1981–2010 period. This increase corresponded to an increase in the corresponding WEP. Therefore, our results agreed with the values of the wind energy produced during the analyzed months for the two countries, Portugal and Spain. Finally, it is notable that the highest values of wind energy production occurred on the days of the storms’ passage through the IP. Full article

This paper presents a methodological framework for evaluating marine areas in Greece for the purpose of identifying the most adequate sites for Hybrid Offshore Wind and Wave Energy Systems (HOWiWaES), with special focus on the HOWiWaES’ environmental impact assessment evaluation. Nine evaluation criteria that reflect various environmental, economic, technical and socio-political aspects are considered, including Wind Velocity (WV), Wave Energy Potential (WEP), Water Depth (WD), Distance from Shore (DS), Connection to Local Electrical Grid (CLEG), Population Served (PS), Shipping Density (SD), Distance from Ports (DP) and Environmental Performance Value (EPV). Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is performed to hierarchically rank twelve predefined siting alternatives. Questionnaires are used to collect information on pairwise comparisons of the evaluation criteria from a group of stakeholders/experts. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are used as a metric tool for pairwise comparisons of each siting alternative with respect to the first eight evaluation criteria, while the last criterion is assessed through the development of an innovative environmental impact assessment tool. The results indicate that WV, WEP and EPV present the evaluation criteria with the highest relative significance, while PS, DP and SD correspond to less influencing criteria. The proposed methodology can be easily applied to other countries worldwide for supporting socially accepted siting of HOWiWaES. Full article

The purpose of this paper is to describe a new way of producing renewable energy based on fjords as a water heater. We will call this system the Water-thermal Energy Production System (WEPS), because the basic idea is to extract heating and cooling energy from water. Although a prototype of WEPS has existed in Norway for more than ten years, a WEPS currently in operation has not been financially analyzed in the literature. Coastal parts of Norway have a potential of 5 TWh of profitable WEPS-facilities, due to convenient access to fjords containing water with stable all-season temperatures of about 4–12 °C when the depth of the water is about 50 m. This stability of the water temperature makes it possible to extract energy from the fjord in a very efficient way. The potential for economically-profitable WEPS in other parts of the world has not been estimated. In order to answer such a question, more research is required. We have conducted a case study of a WEPS located in the Norwegian municipality of Eid. This is the first full-scale Norwegian WEPS, and it has been operating since 2006. The nascent years have passed, and the technology has been in operation for some years. In this paper, we have made an estimate of the business profitability and the external effects based on past empirical evidence and some assumptions about future development in some key figures. The results suggests that WEPS-Eid has been a profitable investment carrying a positive internal rate of revenue, even if the present underutilization in production capacity will continue in the future. Stability in energy prices for heating purposes has also gained customers compared to the more volatile prices of alternative renewable energy, such as hydropower or wind turbines. The negative, external effects in the operating phase from WEPS-Eid are insignificant. Despite the significant profitability of the WEPS facility in Eid, there are two main obstacles for new entrants. There is a lack of relevant operational information for potential investors due to few facilities. This leads to uncertainty, and investments in WEPS appear as a risky business. Secondly, construction of a WEPS requires both big financial investments in digging and facilitating long trenches for a pipeline system and time and effort spent on acquiring the licenses needed for doing this work. A coordinating unit is probably required in order to get the necessary public and private licenses and to reduce fixed costs by coordinating other tasks in the same trenches, such as pipes for water and sewer, fiber cables and tele-cables. In Eid, the local municipal administration was the coordinating unit. Full article