An Offshore Wind Energy Geographic Information System (OWE-GIS) for assessment of the UK's offshore wind energy potential

The UK OWE-GIS estimates the costs of energy from an offshore wind farm taking account of the major capital components; development costs dependent on water depth and distance from nearest ports or grid connection points; the potential energy production dependent on annual average wind speed, potential array losses, and turbine availability; operations and maintenance costs; and financial parameters such as discount rate and project lifetime. A sensitivity analysis is presented to show the influence of discount rate, project lifetime, and assumptions about overall capital expenditure (CAPEX), availability, and annual mean wind speed.