As enerxías renovables

Esenciais. Brevarios de divulgación do saberAs enerxías renovables son enerxías primarias que se renovan de forma natural. Proveñen da enerxía que chega ao noso planeta de forma continua pola acción da radiación solar ou da atracción gravitatoria da Lúa, polo que son fontes de enerxía inesgotables e limpas. Son fundamentalmente: a enerxía solar, eólica, hidráulica, mariña (das ondas e da marea), da biomasa e xeotérmica. Estas fontes de enerxía son moi diversas e atópanse accesibles para ser explotadas en calquera parte do planeta. O desenvolvemento tecnolóxico fai que as enerxías renovables sexan cada vez máis competitivas permitindo aos países ser máis independentes dos combustibles fósiles

Development of offshore wind power: contrasting optimal wind sites with legal restrictions in Galicia, Spain

The region of Galicia, in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, has a high wind potential for the installation of offshore wind farms (OWFs) in many areas of its surrounding marine waters. However, legal restrictions derived from the protection of other interests that converge in the marine environment (such as fishing, navigation, and biodiversity conservation) must be considered, along with technical limitations resulting from water depth. This study is aimed at analysing legal restrictions on the installation of OWFs in Galician waters and at identifying those zones of less conflict where the wind power density (WPD) is greater and the depths and distances from the coast are technically feasible given the current status of technology in Europe. To do this, a legal study was performed of both the strategic environmental assessment of the Spanish coast and the regulations of the different marine sectors at European, international, national, and regional levels. In addition, the WPD along the north-western area of the Iberian Peninsula and Europe was calculated, and an analysis of maximum and average depths and distances from the coast of planned and installed OWFs in Europe was made. Two main zones without legal and technical restrictions were identified in the north-eastern corner of Galicia and in the south of the Vigo estuary. The greatest WPD was identified in the north-western zone, from Cape Finisterre to Cape Ortegal, where there are small sites without legal or technical restrictions that are near several protected zones (such as a marine reserve, a special protected area, and a wetland and its buffer zone), making necessary a deeper analysis of the specific impacts of each OWF project in the Environmental Impact Assessment.Xunta de Galicia | Ref. ED481A-2016/36Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | Ref. SFRH/BPD/118142/201

Assessing the complementarity of future hybrid wind and solar photovoltaic energy resources for North America

Financiado para publicación en acceso aberto: Universidade de Vigo/CISUGRenewable energy plays a key role into achieving the international targets for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. Considering that these forms of energy are dependent on climate conditions and that their variability occurs at different time scales, it is important to analyze the complementarity to ensure a stable power supply to the grid in the context of climate change. A multi-model ensemble of 10 global climate models from the CMIP6 project was used to analyze the complementarity between wind and solar photovoltaic power in North America from 2025 to 2054 under the SSP2-4.5 scenario. This complementarity was evaluated using two indices that account for the similarity between the two resources (Similarity index, Si) and the temporal complementarity (Concurrency index, Ci). The combination of the two resources reduced spatial heterogeneity in terms of annual mean power in North America. The highest values of Si were detected west of California and in the Caribbean Sea, and the lowest were found in Mexico. Regarding Ci, the highest values were detected in ocean areas north of 30°N. Both indices were divided into four categories to assess the most suitable areas for combining wind and solar photovoltaic power. Coastal areas in the Gulf of Mexico and substantial areas in the Caribbean Sea are considered optimal in terms of complementarity. Inland, good complementarity was observed on the US-Canada border (e.g., the Great Lakes) and in northern areas such as Alaska or the Labrador Peninsula. The lowest values of complementarity were detected in Mexico.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación | Ref. PRTR-C17.I1Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación | Ref. IJC2020-043745-IMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación | Ref. PID2020-113245RB-I00Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación | Ref. TED2021-129479A-100Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | Ref. UIDP/50017/2020Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | Ref. UIDB/50017/202

Combining offshore wind and solar photovoltaic energy to stabilize energy supply under climate change scenarios: A case study on the western Iberian Peninsula

La expansión de la energía renovable marina es una importante alternativa para la reducción de las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero. Sin embargo, en Europa, la alta penetración de la energía eólica marina introduce intermitencia y variabilidad de energía en la red eléctrica existente. La energía solar fotovoltaica marina es otra alternativa tecnológica en consideración en los planes de descarbonización. Sin embargo, las futuras variaciones en el viento, la temperatura del aire o la radiación solar debido al cambio climático tendrán un gran impacto en los recursos de energía renovable. En este contexto, este estudio se centra en la evaluación de la energía marina en la costa de la Península Ibérica occidental, una región europea que abarca Portugal y la parte noroccidental de España. Utilizando una amplia fuente de datos de 35 simulaciones de un proyecto de investigación llamado CORDEX, este estudio investiga la complementariedad de las fuentes de energía eólica y solar marina con el objetivo de mejorar la estabilidad del suministro de energía de esta región hasta 2040. Aunque se ha demostrado que el recurso de energía eólica marina es mayor que el recurso fotovoltaico solar a escala anual, ambos recursos renovables mostraron una variabilidad significativa en energía a lo largo de la Península Ibérica occidental. Cuando se combinan ambas fuentes renovables, la estabilidad del recurso energético aumenta considerablemente a lo largo del año. El esquema propuesto de combinación de energía eólica y solar se evalúa mediante un método de clasificación de rendimiento llamado Delphi, teniendo en cuenta la estabilidad, el recurso, el riesgo y los factores económicos. El índice de clasificación total aumenta cuando la estabilidad del recurso se mejora mediante la consideración de la producción híbrida de energía eólica-fotovoltaica solar, especialmente a lo largo de las aguas cercanas a la costa.The expansion of marine renewable power is a major alternative for the reduction of greenhouse gases emissions. In Europe, however, the high penetration of offshore wind brings intermittency and power variability into the existing power grid. Offshore solar photovoltaic power is another technological alternative under consideration in the plans for decarbonization. However, future variations in wind, air temperature or solar radiation due to climate change will have a great impact on both renewable energy resources. In this context, this study focusses on the offshore energy assessment off the coast of Western Iberia, a European region encompassing Portugal and the Northwestern part of Spain. Making use of a vast source of data from 35 simulations of a research project called CORDEX, this study investigates the complementarity of offshore wind and solar energy sources with the aim of improving the energy supply stability of this region up to 2040. Although the offshore wind energy resource has proven to be higher than solar photovoltaic resource at annual scale, both renewable resources showed significant spatiotemporal energy variability throughout the western Iberian Peninsula. When both renewable resources are combined, the stability of the energy resource increased considerably throughout the year. The proposed wind and solar combination scheme is assessed by a performance classification method called Delphi, considering stability, resource, risk, and economic factors. The total index classification increases when resource stability is improved by considering hybrid offshore wind-photovoltaic solar energy production, especially along the nearshore waters.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad | Ref. FJCI-2017-32577Agencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. PID2020-113245RB-I00Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | Ref. UIDB/50017/2020Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | Ref. UIDP/50017/2020Xunta de Galicia | Ref. ED431C 2021/4

Suitability of wave energy converters in northwestern Spain under the near future winter wave climate

Marine renewable energies can play a key role by reducing the dependency on fossil fuels and, therefore, mitigating climate change. Among them, it is expected that wave energy will experience rapid growth in the upcoming decades. Thus, it is important to know how wave climate will change and how suitable the wave energy converters (WECs) will be to the new wave conditions. This paper aims to evaluate the capability of four different WECs—a WaveRoller type device (WRTD), Atargis, AquaBuoy and RM5—to extract wave energy on the Northwest coast of Spain (NWCS). The analysis was performed using the high-resolution wave data obtained from the Simulating Waves Nearshore (SWAN) model over the near future winters (2026–2045). The energy output (PE), the power load factor (ε), the normalized capture width (NCw) and the operational time (OT) were analyzed. According to these parameters, among the devices that work for intermediate-deep waters, Atargis would be the best option (PE=1400 ± 56 kW, ε =55.4 ± 2.2%, NCw=35.5 ± 4.1% and OT =84.5 ± 3.3%). The WRTD would also be a good option for shallow nearshore areas with PE=427 ± 248 kW, ε =12.8 ± 7.4%, NCw = 48.9 ± 9.6% and OT = 88.7 ± 18.9%. A combination of Atargis and WRTDs is proposed to make up the future wave energy farms on the NWCS.Xunta de Galicia | Ref. ED431C 2021/44Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación | Ref. PID2020-113245RB-I00Agencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. TED2021-129479A-100Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación | Ref. IJC2020-043745-IAgencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. PRE2021-097580Universidade de Vigo/CISU

Assessment of Hybrid Wind-Wave Energy Resource for the NW Coast of Iberian Peninsula in a Climate Change Context

Offshore renewable energy has a high potential for ensuring the successful implementation of the European decarbonization agenda planned for the near future. Hybrid wind-wave farms can reduce installation and maintenance costs, and increase the renewable energy availability of a location by compensating for the wind’s intermittent nature with good wave conditions. In addition, wave farms can provide protection to wind farms, and the combined wind/wave farm can provide coastal protection. This work aims to assess the future hybrid wind-wave energy resource for the northwest coast of Iberian Peninsula for the near future (2026–2045), under the RCP 8.5 greenhouse gas emission scenario. This assessment was accomplished by applying a Delphi classification method to define four categories, aiming to evaluate the richness (wind and wave energy availability, downtime), the variability (temporal variation), the environmental risk (extreme events), and cost parameters (water depth and distance to coast) of the wind and wave resources. The combined index (CI), which classifies the hybrid wind-wave resource, shows that most of the NW Iberian Peninsula presents good conditions (CI > 0.6) for exploiting energy from wind and wave resources simultaneously. Additionally, there are some particularly optimal areas (CI > 0.7), such as the region near Cape Roca, and the Galician coastThe first author of this work has been supported by the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT) through a doctoral grant (SFRH/BD/114919/2016). Thanks are also due to FCT/MCTES for the financial support to CESAM (UIDB/50017/2020+UIDP/50017/2020), through national funds. This work was partially supported by Xunta de Galicia under project ED431C 2017/64-GRC (Grupos de Referencia Competitiva) and by Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of the Government of Spain under the project “WELCOME ENE2016-75074-C2-1-R” funded by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This study is also part of the project “WECAnet: A pan-European network for Marine Renewable Energy” (CA17105), which received funding from the HORIZON2020 Framework Programme by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology), a funding agency for research and innovation networksS

Downscaling CMIP6 climate projections to classify the future offshore wind energy resource in the Spanish territorial waters

The Spanish government has established a Maritime Spatial Planning including areas for wind farms, with the aim of contributing up to 40% of European floating offshore wind power by 2030. Thus, it is crucial to assess the current and future offshore wind energy resource in these areas, and classify the near future resource by considering wind power density and other relevant factors like resource stability, environmental risks, and installation costs. To attain the necessary high spatial resolution, a dynamic downscaling of a multi-model ensemble from the 6th phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project was conducted using the Weather Research and Forecasting model in Spanish territorial waters, including the Iberian Peninsula, Balearic Islands, and Canary Islands. Future projections were considered under the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways 2–4.5 and 5–8.5 scenarios. According to the results, Spain’s offshore wind energy potential is projected to grow in the upcoming years, particularly in the Atlantic Ocean and surrounding the Canary Islands. Wind resource classification in the potential offshore wind farm areas reveals noteworthy diversity, with ratings ranging from “fair” (3/7) to “outstanding” (6/7). The most promising areas for offshore wind farm development in the near future are located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula and the Canary Islands.Xunta de Galicia | Ref. ED431C 2021/44Agencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. TED2021-129479A-I00Agencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. PID2021-128510OB-I00Agencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. IJC2020-043745-

Dynamic downscaling of wind speed over the North Atlantic Ocean using CMIP6 projections: implications for offshore wind power density

Offshore wind energy is an important agent to fight climate change. However, it is simultaneously very sensitive to climate change. This study analyzes the future changes in wind speed of 10 m above sea surface (V10) in the North Atlantic Ocean and how these variations may affect offshore wind energy resources for three potential subregions (the United States (US) East Coast, western Iberian Peninsula, and the Caribbean Sea). Dynamic downscaling of three different future scenarios of the CESM2 global climate model (CMIP6 project) was performed using the WRF-ARW atmospheric model. V10 is expected to decrease in the winter and spring seasons but increase in summer and autumn, mainly in tropical regions up to 30 °N. Annually, it shows the maximum increase in the tropical region. For the Iberian Peninsula subregion, significant increases in summer are expected for wind power density (WPD) along the 21st century, but there is uncertainty for the other seasons. A WPD decrease in winter and increases in summer and autumn are expected along the 21st century for the US subregion. No significant changes were observed at annual scale. Finally, for the Caribbean Sea, a decrease is projected in the Yucatan Basin and considerable increases are foreseen for the Colombia and Venezuela basins.Xunta de Galicia | Ref. ED481A-2020/193Xunta de Galicia | Ref. ED431C 2021/44Agencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. JC2020-043745-IAgencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. PID2021-22314OB-I00Universidade de Vigo/CISU

Combining offshore wind and solar photovoltaic energy to stabilize energy supply under climate change scenarios: a case study on the western Iberian Peninsula

The expansion of marine renewable power is a major alternative for the reduction of greenhouse gases emissions. In Europe, however, the high penetration of offshore wind brings intermittency and power variability into the existing power grid. Offshore solar photovoltaic power is another technological alternative under consideration in the plans for decarbonization. However, future variations in wind, air temperature or solar radiation due to climate change will have a great impact on both renewable energy resources. In this context, this study focusses on the offshore energy assessment off the coast of Western Iberia, a European region encompassing Portugal and the Northwestern part of Spain. Making use of a vast source of data from 35 simulations of a research project called CORDEX, this study investigates the complementarity of offshore wind and solar energy sources with the aim of improving the energy supply stability of this region up to 2040. Although the offshore wind energy resource has proven to be higher than solar photovoltaic resource at annual scale, both renewable resources showed significant spatiotemporal energy variability throughout the western Iberian Peninsula. When both renewable resources are combined, the stability of the energy resource increased considerably throughout the year. The proposed wind and solar combination scheme is assessed by a performance classification method called Delphi, considering stability, resource, risk, and economic factors. The total index classification increases when resource stability is improved by considering hybrid offshore wind-photovoltaic solar energy production, especially along the nearshore waterX. Costoya is supported by the Spanish Government through a Juan de la Cierva Postdoctoral Fellowship (FJCI-2017-32577). This work was partially supported by Xunta de Galicia under project ED431C 2021/44 (Grupos de Referencia Competitiva) and Ministry of Science and Innovation of the Government of Spain under the project SURVIWEC PID2020-113245RB-I00. D. Carvalho acknowledges the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for his researcher contract (CEECIND/01726/2017) and the FCT/MCTES for the financial support to CESAM (UIDP/50017/2020+UIDB/50017/2020), through national fundsS

Different approaches to analyze the impact of future climate change on the exploitation of wave energy

The increment of the share of renewable energies in the global mix implies that all renewable energies must be exploited. In this sense, it is necessary to make significant research and investment effort in the particular case of wave energy to reach the degree of maturity of other marine energies in the near future. Apart from the inherent factors that hinder the development of wave energy, such as the non-existence of a market-leading type of capturing device, uncertainties about the available future resource also hamper its growth. In this article, a review of the procedures followed in the literature to deal with the future wave energy resources and their subsequent exploitation is described. These procedures include the evaluation of the best future atmospheric models to drive wave models, the different downscaling techniques to evaluate the resource in large regions with high spatial resolution, and the analysis of the variability of the future energy resource and its future exploitability in a certain region taking into account different types of devices. Additionally, the current state of the art of previous studies dealing with future wave energy resources for different locations worldwide is described. Despite the difficulties involved in studying future wave energy resources, the high technological readiness level of the offshore wind industry, the creation of power generation farms with combined technologies, and the growth of marine aquaculture in the coming years could generate synergies that provide the definitive impulse to achieve the necessary technological development.Agencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. PID2020‐113245RB‐I00Agencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. TED2021-129479A-I00Xunta de Galicia | Ref. ED431C 2021/44Agencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. IJC2020-043745-IAgencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. PRE2021-097580European Cooperation in Science and TechnologyUniversidade de Vigo/CISU