Assessment of offshore wind energy potential using mesoscale model and geographic information system

Offshore wind climate along the coast of Kanto area was investigated by a mesoscale model and wind energy potential considering economical and social criteria was estimated by Geographical Information System (GIS). The prediction accuracy of the annual mean wind speed by the mesoscale model was 2.49%. The estimated wind climate shows that offshore Choshi, the annual mean wind speed is significantly higher than other area. Without considering any economical or social criteria, the total potential along the coast of Kanto area is 287 TWh/year, which is slightly more than the annual supply of Tokyo Electric Power Company. If only the bottom mounted foundation is used, the potential varies from 0.21 TWh/year to 7.98 TWh/year depending on the scenario. On the other hand, when floating foundation is taken into consideration, the potential is 100.59 TWh/year even for the most conservative scenario.