BlueWise Marine at the AWEC 2021 in Milan
Our Environmental Scientist Inés Coca presented on the Practicalities of Site Selection for an Offshore AWE Demonstration: A Case Study for Ireland at the rescheduled Airborne Wind Energy Conference (AWEC) 2021 in Milan on June 23, 2022.
Airborne Wind Energy Systems (AWES) development can provide promising solutions in the renewable energy sector. The offshore deployment of these systems present challenges and features that cannot necessarily be generalised within floating wind turbine site selection studies. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt suitable methodologies to carry out appropriate site selection studies, both for pilot testing and further operations.
Inés’s presentation on the identification of suitable sites, involved the integration and interpretation of multi-faceted geospatial factors and a full understanding of technical, socio-economic, environmental, and political elements. Some of the challenges she encountered in this case study included finding and collecting reliable, up-to-date, and high-resolution data for some specific variables, with some of the data sources presenting gaps in information.
Irish waters presented an advantageous environment for the development of offshore AWES, given the resource and the test facilities, already established on the territory.
