Multi criteria decision analysis for offshore wind energy potential in Egypt

Offshore wind energy is highlighted as one of the most important resource to exploit due to greater wind intensity and minimal visual impacts compared with onshore wind. Currently there is a lack of accurate assessment of offshore wind energy potential at global sites. A new methodology is proposed addressing this gap which has global applicability for offshore wind energy exploitation. It is based on Analytical Hierarchy Process and pairwise comparison methods linked to site spatial assessment in a geographical information system. The method is applied to Egypt, which currently plan to scale renewable energy capacity from 1 GW to 7.5 GW by 2020, likely to be through offshore wind. We introduce the applicability of the spatial analysis, based on multi-criteria decision analysis providing accurate estimates of the offshore wind from suitable locations in Egypt. Three high wind suitable areas around the Red Sea were identified with minimum restrictions that can produce around 33 GW of wind power. Suitability maps are also included in the paper providing a blueprint for the development of wind farms in these sites. The developed methodology is generalised and is applicable globally to produce offshore wind suitability map for appropriate offshore wind locations.