Offshore Wind Potential Assessment

Wind energy is one of the fastest growing alternative energy sources in the world, including Brazil. However, there have been very few studies of wind power potential in Brazilian waters. The aim of this study is therefore to evaluate the potential for offshore wind power generation at a point located off the coast of the municipality of Arraial do Cabo, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Firstly, a presentation is given on the current state of wind energy in Brazil and worldwide, as well as offshore technology. For the analysis, the local wind resource was evaluated using data from one of the buoys in the Brazilian Navy's National Buoy Program. The data is hourly and covers the period between June 2013 and October 2015. The data was extrapolated to the height of the turbine rotor using Wall's Law. The Weibull frequency distribution and the turbine's Power Curve were used to calculate monthly energy generation. In this way, it was possible to analyze the annual electricity demand of neighboring municipalities. It was found that the use of offshore wind energy as a source of electricity generation in the region has great potential.