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Title: How many offshore wind turbines does New England need?

Abstract

Abstract The proliferation of countries and regions with 100% clean or renewable energy targets necessitates an analysis to determine the number of generating units and storage needed to meet real‐time electricity demand on the electric grid. The coastal areas of New England have the capacity to produce a large percentage of the region's energy needs with offshore wind turbines. Here we model offshore wind turbine power production data using MERRA‐2 reanalysis and lidar wind speed data sets. We compare this power production to the New England hourly grid demand over the course of one year. 2,000 10 MW offshore wind turbines could satisfy New England's grid demand for about 37% of the year. When combined with 55 GWh of storage, 2,000 turbines could satisfy grid demand for about 72% of the year.

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]
  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Colorado—Boulder Boulder Colorado
  2. Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences University of Colorado—Boulder Boulder Colorado, National Renewable Energy Laboratory Golden Colorado
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Wind Energy Technologies Office
OSTI Identifier:
1735668
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1760653; OSTI ID: 1786600
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5000-77226
Journal ID: ISSN 1350-4827; e1969
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC36-08GO28308
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Meteorological Applications
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Meteorological Applications Journal Volume: 27 Journal Issue: 6; Journal ID: ISSN 1350-4827
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Language:
English
Subject:
17 WIND ENERGY; offshore wind energy; New England; modeling; renewable energy; electrical demand; grid; lidar; reanalysis; storage; wind energy

Citation Formats

Livingston, Hannah G., and Lundquist, Julie K.. How many offshore wind turbines does New England need?. United Kingdom: N. p., 2020. Web. doi:10.1002/met.1969.
Livingston, Hannah G., & Lundquist, Julie K.. How many offshore wind turbines does New England need?. United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1002/met.1969
Livingston, Hannah G., and Lundquist, Julie K.. Sun . "How many offshore wind turbines does New England need?". United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1002/met.1969.
@article{osti_1735668,
title = {How many offshore wind turbines does New England need?},
author = {Livingston, Hannah G. and Lundquist, Julie K.},
abstractNote = {Abstract The proliferation of countries and regions with 100% clean or renewable energy targets necessitates an analysis to determine the number of generating units and storage needed to meet real‐time electricity demand on the electric grid. The coastal areas of New England have the capacity to produce a large percentage of the region's energy needs with offshore wind turbines. Here we model offshore wind turbine power production data using MERRA‐2 reanalysis and lidar wind speed data sets. We compare this power production to the New England hourly grid demand over the course of one year. 2,000 10 MW offshore wind turbines could satisfy New England's grid demand for about 37% of the year. When combined with 55 GWh of storage, 2,000 turbines could satisfy grid demand for about 72% of the year.},
doi = {10.1002/met.1969},
journal = {Meteorological Applications},
number = 6,
volume = 27,
place = {United Kingdom},
year = {2020},
month = {12}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1002/met.1969

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