The efficiency and coastal protection provided by a floating wind farm operating in the Romanian nearshore

Abstract

Overcome by the increasing energy demands nowadays and the limited traditional resources, the foremost objective of the proposed study is to evaluate the efficiency of a floating wind farm operating in the coastal environment of the western Black Sea. Since coastal erosion has become a matter of urgent concern during the last decades and many states in the EU (European Union) consider the issue of coastal protection to be of utmost national importance, this study aims to reveal the positive effects such project might provide to the coastal area of Romania. Due to significant decrease of sediments from the Danube basin to the coast in the north along with the extensive development of tourist resorts, especially in the southern part, the erosion process has become more explicit, posing a severe threat primarily on the population living within an area of tens of kilometres from the coast. To provide a better overview of the principal wave patterns in the targeted area, the ERA5 dataset has been considered for the evaluation of the wave power for the 40-year period (1979–2018) for two reference points located in the proximity of the target area. Four scenarios for the simulations were carried out with a computational structure that combines a circulation model with a wave model. A generic wind farm was defined in the computational domain, taking into consideration steadily increasing distances from the shoreline: 4, 6 and 8 km. Firstly, taking into account the local wave patterns, and three-wave parameters — the significant wave height, the mean wave height and direction, the down-wave effect of the farm was evaluated. Secondly, the influence of the generic farm on the longshore currents was also assessed. The concluding results suggest that if such a project is to be taken into consideration, it would not only provide valuable renewable energy, but it would also guarantee adequate coastal protection by reducing the impact of waves and intensify resilience to terrible weather.