How Many Offshore Wind Turbines does New England Need?

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 fulfill real-time electricity demand on the electric grid. The coastal areas of New England have capacity to produce a large percentage of the region’s energy needs with offshore wind turbines.

To quantify this capacity, we model offshore wind turbine power production data using NASA’s MERRA-2 reanalysis estimates of winds.We first confirm the skill of MERRA-2 estimates of winds by comparing to a unique offshore lidar wind speed data set (see Figure). We then use these wind speeds to estimate power production from large groups of turbines, assuming a constant 20% wake loss. Finally, we compare this power production to New England hourly grid demand over the course of one year. We find that 2000 offshore wind turbines could satisfy New England grid demand about 35% of the year. When combined with 55 GWh of storage, 2000 turbines could satisfy grid demand about 70% of the year.