Assessment of Offshore Wind Energy in Portuguese Shallow Waters

The increase of electricity consumption in Portugal, together with the energy targets set by the European Union in the wake of that established by the Kyoto Protocol, motivates the search for renewable energy sources capable of satisfying both criteria. Portugal has an Exclusive Economic Zone about fifteen times its land area and, taking into account the need to increase the national share of energy produced through renewable energy, the installation of offshore wind farms emerges as a viable solution to sustainable energy production. It is the subject of this work to carry out a feasibility study for an offshore wind farm in Portuguese shallow waters. The evaluation of every viable location was made, taking into account recent legislation and a survey of the state-of-the-art technology used in such projects was carried out. Wind farm prototypes were developed, based on the technology exposed. The financial assessment was performed, grounded on every consideration laid out previously. The results show that Portugal has the wind potential for the installation of an offshore wind farm in shallow waters and that the feasibility of a project like that, in national waters, depends largely on the area of implementation, the technical characteristics of the wind farm (specially the models of the turbines utilized), as well as the system of incentives and support for offshore wind energy, including the tariffs to be applied to the produced energy.