The development of an offshore wind resource database is one of the first steps necessary to understand the magnitude of the resource and to plan the distribution and development of future offshore wind power facilities. The U.S. Department of Energy supported the production of offshore wind resource maps and potential estimates for much of the United States. This presentation discusses:

  • NREL’s 2010 offshore wind resources report
  • Current U.S., regional, and state offshore maps
  • Methodology forthewindmappingandvalidation
  • Wind potential estimates
  • Geographic Information Systems (GIS) database
  • Future work and conclusions....(Read more...)