Exploring Wind Energy Potential off the California Coast

Wind energy represents the nearest term cost-competitive renewable energy source. While efforts have been made to assess wind energy potential over land around the world, offshore wind energy resources are largely unexplored, in part because these regions have relatively sparse observations. In this study, the wind energy potential in shallow-water near-shore zones along the California Coast is evaluated using a well-tested multi-year high-resolution numerical model dataset. We found that along the coastline, the low-level winds exhibit strong spatial variation and are characterized by well-defined wind speed maxima and minima associated with the interaction between the marine boundary layer and coastal topography. The wind energy density in the regions of wind speed maxima is comparable to or even larger than typical wind farms over land. Compared to land-based sites, the near-shore wind energy potential along the California Coast is characterized by much less diurnal variability, is closer to densely populated high-demand centers, and may be more environmentally friendly.