Offshore Wind Energy Potential Assessment of India Based on the Synergetic Use of QuikSCAT, OSCAT and ASCAT Scatterometers Data

Abstract

Wind energy is recognised as one of the economically viable and substantiate renewable energy technologies worldwide to expedient the rising electricity requirements in a sustainable way. Presently, India has onshore wind farms accounting the fifth largest wind power capacity in the world. The National Offshore Wind Energy Policy 2015 of the Government of India aims to harness the wind resources within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Accordingly, a target of 60,000 MW power generation by 2022 has been set to realise from onshore and offshore wind farms. The traditional method of wind resource assessment for wind energy applications is carried out by analysing a large amount of in situ wind data at different heights. In Indian waters, there are few offshore wind buoys and meteorological masts and are limited to few locations. Satellite remote sensing helps in providing synoptic data due to its larger swaths, better repetivity and longer acquisition periods. Microwave scatterometers are one among them, which provide sufficient data over the entire globe. In this study, the offshore wind climatology in the Indian seas (the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea) is generated from large datasets of QuikSCAT (1999–2009), OSCAT (2010–2014), ASCAT on-board Metop-A (2010–2016) and on Metop-B (2012–2016) scatterometers synergistically. Orbit-wise scatterometer wind products have been processed to generate long-term synoptic monthly means of wind speed and direction. Wind Power Density-WPD (W/m2) was calculated using Weibull distribution parameters at 10 m height. The wind speed, WPD, Power production have been estimated at different heights above the sea surface using a combination of logarithmic law and Weibull scale and shape parameters for few standard turbines of different capacities. Monthly and Annual wind energy potential has been estimated by considering the bathymetric variations and distance away from the coast for all the coastal states within the EEZ of Indian coast.