Evaluation of the wind energy potential along the Mediterranean Sea coasts

The objective of the present work is to evaluate the wind potential in the nearshore of the Mediterranean Sea. Thus, a comprehensive picture of the wind conditions is provided by considering 15-year of cumulative information coming from remotely sensed data and from two numerical models. These are provided by the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). Since most of the offshore wind turbines usually operate at about 80m height, the initial wind conditions (reported at 10 m) were adjusted to this height and various wind parameters were evaluated. Besides these, the characteristics of the Vestas V90-3.0MW wind turbine were used to identify the efficiency of this type of generator in terms of operating capacity, rated capacity and capacity factor. From the analysis of these data, it can be noticed that more energetic wind conditions are encountered in the northern part of the basin (close to the Spain–France border and south of Greece) and also in the southern part of the sea (Tunisia sector). In the final part of the paper, based on satellite measurements, the wind conditions (monthly and seasonal) coresponding to some representative locations in the Mediterranean Sea were compared to those from several offshore locations where wind farms already operate.