Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Assessment of the locational potential of floating offshore wind energy in South Africa

Umoh, Kubiat; Hasan, Abbas; Kenjegaliev, Amangeldi; Al-Qattan, Ayman

Authors

Kubiat Umoh

Ayman Al-Qattan



Abstract

Expanding floating wind into new markets could support emission reduction targets in several national contexts. It furthers the need for adequate assessments to gain a full understanding of the technology’s potential in future markets. South Africa is a prime case study as it has seen limited industry and policy developments despite its huge technical potential for floating offshore wind (FOW). This paper assessed the locational potential of floating wind in South Africa through a three phased approach that evaluated the key technical drivers/barriers of the technology, conducted a Geographic Information System analysis (GIS) using ArcMap 10.8 to exclude unsuitable sites based on a predetermined exclusion criteria (including marine protected zones, underwater cables, major oil and gas deposits etc.), and estimated the total harvestable capacity in the feasible sites. The study found that 2% (246,105.4 km2) of South Africa’s entire Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is suitable for hosting floating wind turbines, with a potential to generate a maximum of 142.61 GW of floating wind power. Although the Western Cape province holds the highest potential (80.52 GW) for floating wind in the country, the Eastern Cape region, with a locational potential of 20.04 GW, is considered most suitable for early-stage developments due to the availability of grid connection points, limited marine traffic, and proximity to appropriate port facilities. Future work can conduct techno-economic assessments to evaluate the technical and economic implications of developing floating wind in distinct sites in the country’s EEZ.

Citation

Umoh, K., Hasan, A., Kenjegaliev, A., & Al-Qattan, A. (2024). Assessment of the locational potential of floating offshore wind energy in South Africa. Sustainable Energy Research, 11, Article 12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40807-024-00104-4

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Mar 6, 2024
Online Publication Date Apr 3, 2024
Publication Date Apr 3, 2024
Deposit Date Mar 11, 2024
Publicly Available Date Apr 5, 2024
Journal Sustainable Energy Research
Publisher Springer
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 11
Article Number 12
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/s40807-024-00104-4
Keywords Floating wind; Offshore wind; Technical potential; Locational potential; GIS; South Africa
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4587267

Files

Published article (4 Mb)
PDF

Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which
permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the
original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or
other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line
to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory
regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.




You might also like



Downloadable Citations