Spatial and temporal variability characteristics of offshore wind energy in the United Kingdom

The growing reliance on intermittent sources of renewable energy poses challenges for developing reliable electricity networks. This study has analysed the spatial and temporal characteristics of the UK's offshore wind energy production based on reanalysis of offshore wind speeds between 2000-2017, considering both the 2019 and future distribution of offshore wind farm capacity in UK waters. The extent and frequency of low wind power events are assessed, which are shown to vary seasonally. The correlation in output from offshore wind farm pairs reduces with increasing distance between them, albeit at a slower rate than has been observed for onshore wind farms. The conditional probability between regions of low energy production is also evaluated, which reveals that regions such as the English Channel are much more susceptible to simultaneous periods of low wind energy production if there is limited wind energy production in south-west England or in the North Sea. Nevertheless, aggregating energy production from all offshore wind farms has a positive effect in reducing the likelihood of prolonged periods of country-wide very low energy production. Comments are made on the possibilities for regional distribution of installed capacity to reduce the overall variability of wind energy and the relevance of these findings to electricity networks with increasing penetration of wind-generated electricity.