Exploring the sustainable siting of floating wind farms in the Cretan coastline

Most wind potential is located at sea and mainly in areas with significant depth, where the installation of fixed wind turbines is unfeasible. Floating wind farms, deployable in deep waters, could take advantage of this high potential to produce clean energy. This study aims to define the most suitable areas for the installation of floating wind farms in the Cretan Sea and to evaluate them according to their energy characteristics by developing a Geographic Information System-based methodology. The available candidate areas were initially determined after excluding areas based on legislation criteria and state-of-the-art. Available areas were further evaluated on energy, techno-economical, environmental, safety, and project nuisance criteria in order to determine the most suitable areas for their sustainable siting. Three areas were ranked as the most suitable, and the energy characteristics of these areas were energy evaluated. The study quantifies and ranks the suitability of all marine areas nearby Crete. In addition, the critical energy role that floating wind farms can play in the case of Crete is emphasised, as the use of only the most suitable areas can cover up to 56% of the island's energy needs and provide electricity for 396,000 dwellings annually.