Publications

Diaz, H.M. and Guedes Soares, C. (2020), “An integrated GIS approach for site selection of floating offshore wind farms in the Atlantic Continental European coastline”, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 134, 110328 (19 pages)

This study presents a novel method for the selection of sites for floating wind farms based on marine spatial optimization. A tool based on geographic information systems and divided into three main stages is built in Python language. The first stage collects and analyses the information of the different regulatory bodies, marine spatial planning, maritime concessions and other sources. The second stage excludes not feasible sites for floating wind farms, based mostly on marine space use and environmental constraints. The third stage characterises the available locations based on five major categories that are spatially dependent: metocean data, viability data, logistics, facilities, marine environment and techno-economic data. The proposed methodology is implemented at the European Atlantic coast, with specific reference to Portugal, Spain and France. In the 3.362.408 km2 of the Atlantic Exclusive Economic Zone occupied by the three countries, only 0.22 % of the total area maximum sustainability would reach. While further detailed studies about locations and legislative considerations are required, the effort made has contributed to eliminate unsuitable areas and identify those where sustainability can be maximized.

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