Assessment of the wind energy potential in the coastal environment of two enclosed seas

The objective of the present work is to evaluate the wind energy potential in the nearshores of two enclosed seas, the Black and the Caspian seas, respectively. Furthermore, the wind conditions in the target areas are compared with those from some locations in the vicinity of several offshore wind projects from the North and the Baltic seas. In order to identify the spatial and seasonal wind patterns, the ERA-Interim reanalysis data provided by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) were considered. Besides some relevant wind characteristics, such as the mean wind speed or the power density, the performances of the Vestas V90-3.0 wind turbine were also evaluated, since this type of system is currently used in several wind projects, as those from Belgium (Belwind 1), Denmark (Sprog) or in the United Kingdom (Barrow). In order to perform a comparison with some already operating wind farms, the conditions corresponding to a number of 146 offshore wind projects from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, or United Kingdom were evaluated based on the data corresponding to the 3-year time interval January 2011-December 2013. Based on the results obtained, it can be concluded that both the Black and the Caspian seas present relevant wind energy resources, which could be valued throughout offshore wind farm projects.