The Atlantic offshore wind power potential in PJM: a regional offshore wind power resource assessment
Date
2011
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Previous offshore wind power resource assessments have done an adequate job of incorporating wind speeds, bathymetry, and ocean use conflicts that impact where offshore development is best suited. While these assessments have done well to inform developers and policy makers of the size of the resource, the methods for offshore wind power assessments can be improved. Specifically, this paper addresses the need for a regional, detailed exclusion analysis of the mid-Atlantic Ocean that takes into account the use conflict of shipping on the Outer Continental Shelf. In addition, this study is unique in that it calculates the offshore wind power resource within the footprint of the regional transmission organization and wholesale electricity market operator, PJM Interconnection (PJM). Using public databases on use conflicts and geographic information systems (GIS) software, the total suitable area for offshore wind development is identified. Then, modeled wind speeds, a wind turbine power output curve, and assumptions about turbine spacing and acceptable losses are used to calculate the amount of offshore wind power able to be produced within the PJM offshore area. The findings suggest that there is enough offshore wind power, out to 1,000 meters depth, to supply 97.9 Gigawatts of power on average and over 850,000 Gigawatt hours of annual energy. This is enough power to supply over 120% of the average load and over 100% of the total annual energy consumption in PJM’s service territory – an area composed of 13 states, the District of Columbia, and 54 million people. This very large renewable resource could be used to meet state renewable energy mandates and lower carbon emissions in the Mid-Atlantic region.