Evaluating the spatio-temporal variation of China's offshore wind resources based on remotely sensed wind field data

Wind resource assessment in coastal areas is an important concern to develop offshore wind power. The high complexity of coastal environment entails the need for new tools that can describe the spatial variability of wind. In this paper, a distribution study of offshore wind power in China using QuikSCAT Level-2 satellite measurements at a 0.5-degree horizontal resolution was performed. Based on long-term information of daily average wind field, the paper gives an overview of the spatio-temporal distribution of wind resources in China's coastal regions. The results indicate that China has significant offshore wind energy development potential. The total offshore wind energy potential at 10 m in China is approximately 660 GW. The coastal region along Fu Jiang Province has the best wind resource compared with other parts of China's offshore regions. An integrated analysis was made by combining the offshore wind farm plans of coastal provinces with the spatio-temporal characteristics of the wind resource, and suggestions are presented accordingly. We find that the use of wind estimates from satellite data potentially leads to a more refined wind resource analysis. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.