Potential of Offshore Wind Energy Off the Coast of California

Conference · Thu Sep 30 04:00:00 EDT 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.23919/OCEANS44145.2021.9705976· OSTI ID:1862327

Krishnamurthy, Raghavendra ^[1]; Garcia Medina, Gabriel ^[1]; Gaudet, Brian J. ^[1]; Mahon, Alicia M. ^[1]; Newsom, Rob K. ^[1]; Shaw, William J. ^[1]; Sheridan, Lindsay M. ^[1]

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1. BATTELLE (PACIFIC NW LAB)

Two buoys equipped with lidars owned by US Department of Energy were deployed off the coast of California in fall of 2020 by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The buoys are scheduled to collect data for an entire annual cycle at two offshore locations proposed for offshore wind development by Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. One of the buoys was deployed approximately 50 km off the coast near Morro Bay in central California in 1100 m of water. The second buoy was deployed approximately 40 km off Humboldt County in northern California in 625 m of water. The buoys provided the first-ever measurements of hub-height winds off the coast of California. The atmospheric and oceanographic characteristics of the area and estimates of annual energy production at both Morro Bay and Humboldt lease areas show that both locations have a high wind energy yield and are prime locations for future floating offshore wind turbines.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1862327
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA-164552
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English