4 ms·

California's renewables mix is currently solar-heavy. Water depth increases steeply off its coast so traditional fixed bottom offshore turbines don't have many

California's renewables mix is currently solar-heavy. Water depth increases steeply off its coast so traditional fixed bottom offshore turbines don't have many viable locations. Floating wind would be a great complement to solar there if the technology matures.

eloff 5y ago
Much of the West Coast is in the same boat.
_rpd 5y ago
It's interesting tech, but a big part of offshore wind power is bringing the power back to shore. Onshore wind and solar are going to have the advantage there for the foreseeable future.
okareaman 5y ago
I live on the Central Coast and it never struck me as very windy around here, at least compared to other places I've been. I looked it up and as I thought, the winds are further North: 2020 Offshore Wind Resource Assessment for the California Pacific Outer Continental Shelf https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy21osti/77642.pdf https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy21osti/77642.pdf
- nradov 5y ago
  It gets plenty windy just a few miles out into the Pacific Ocean. Pay attention to the marine forecast for a few months and notice how often they include small craft advisories.
- hadlock 5y ago
  Most of the wind is 4-12 miles offshore, as the wind rolls down the coast it's blocked by the mountains that run along the coast. At 25 miless offshore you get into mesoscale wind patterns which are extremely stable and aren't impacted nearly as much by day/night cycle, and can be forecasted with great reliability days and sometimes weeks in advance, particularly in the summer once the north pacific high settles in between CA and HI.
scrooched_moose 5y ago
See Duck curve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_curve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_curve Essentially, solar is great from 8am to 4pm, and California has replaced about half of their load during those hours with solar. However, they have negligible renewable capacity during other times of the day, including peak demand from 6-10pm. There's a more up-to-date version of California's Duck Curve here: https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/confronting-duck-curve-how-address-over-generation-solar-energy https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/confronting-duck-curve-...
- wumpus 5y ago
  Solar is so cheap that it's now worth it to point solar arrays towards the 5pm sun angle, for utility-scale deployments that get time-of-day pricing.

eloff 5y ago

Much of the West Coast is in the same boat.

_rpd 5y ago

It's interesting tech, but a big part of offshore wind power is bringing the power back to shore. Onshore wind and solar are going to have the advantage there for the foreseeable future.

okareaman 5y ago

I live on the Central Coast and it never struck me as very windy around here, at least compared to other places I've been. I looked it up and as I thought, the winds are further North: 2020 Offshore Wind Resource Assessment for the California Pacific Outer Continental Shelf https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy21osti/77642.pdf https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy21osti/77642.pdf

nradov 5y ago
It gets plenty windy just a few miles out into the Pacific Ocean. Pay attention to the marine forecast for a few months and notice how often they include small craft advisories.
hadlock 5y ago
Most of the wind is 4-12 miles offshore, as the wind rolls down the coast it's blocked by the mountains that run along the coast. At 25 miless offshore you get into mesoscale wind patterns which are extremely stable and aren't impacted nearly as much by day/night cycle, and can be forecasted with great reliability days and sometimes weeks in advance, particularly in the summer once the north pacific high settles in between CA and HI.

scrooched_moose 5y ago

See Duck curve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_curve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_curve Essentially, solar is great from 8am to 4pm, and California has replaced about half of their load during those hours with solar. However, they have negligible renewable capacity during other times of the day, including peak demand from 6-10pm. There's a more up-to-date version of California's Duck Curve here: https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/confronting-duck-curve-how-address-over-generation-solar-energy https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/confronting-duck-curve-...

wumpus 5y ago
Solar is so cheap that it's now worth it to point solar arrays towards the 5pm sun angle, for utility-scale deployments that get time-of-day pricing.