Energy production benefits by wind and wave energies for the autonomous system of Crete

Abstract

At autonomous electricity grids Renewable Energy (RE) contributes significantly to energy production. Offshore resources benefit from higher energy density, smaller visual impacts, and higher availability levels. Offshore locations at the West of Crete obtain wind availability ≈80%, combining this with the installation potential for large scale modern wind turbines (rated power) then expected annual benefits are immense. Temporal variability of production is a limiting factor for wider adaptation of large offshore farms. To this end multi-generation with wave energy can alleviate issues of non-generation for wind. Spatio-temporal correlation of wind and wave energy production exhibit that wind and wave hybrid stations can contribute significant amounts of clean energy, while at the same time reducing spatial constrains and public acceptance issues. Offshore technologies can be combined as co-located or not, altering contribution profiles of wave energy to non-operating wind turbine production. In this study a co-located option contributes up to 626 h per annum, while a non co-located solution is found to complement over 4000 h of a non-operative wind turbine. Findings indicate the opportunities associated not only in terms of capital expenditure reduction, but also in the ever important issue of renewable variability and grid stability.