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The paper aims to develop a decision tool for planning offshore wind farm locations, combining multi-criteria decision analysis and geographic information systems. This method considers several technological, environmental, social, and economic criteria. The criteria are used as evaluation factors and constraints to rank the identified potential locations through an Analytic Hierarchy Process. During the evaluation of the available areas, a pairwise comparison is used in which a group of experts determines the weights. Sensitivity and consensus analyses evaluate the results robustness. The methodology is developed for a case study in the Atlantic coastal areas of Portugal, Spain, and France. The results show the potential of this tool to support the planners in the designation of regions for floating wind farm development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrokinetic energy has been mainly studied in areas where the principal driver of the current is the tide. However, in certain areas river discharges play also a principal role. The exploitation of the hydrokinetic resource in such areas has its own peculiarities, dictated by the combined influence of the two driving agents. The objective of this paper is to investigate the exploitation of hydrokinetic energy in the Miño Estuary, the largest estuary in NW Spain and N Portugal, with a focus on the site-specific performance of hydrokinetic energy converters (HECs) and its intra-annual variability. A state-of-the-art hydrodynamics numerical model is implemented and successfully validated based on field data. A third-generation HEC—to be more specific, the new Smart Freestream Turbine (SFT)—is considered, and its performance at the location with the greatest potential is assessed by means of: (i) site-specific efficiency, (ii) availability factor, and (iii) capacity factor. We find that, whereas the site-specific efficiency does not vary significantly, the availability and capacity factors do experience substantial intra-annual (seasonal) variability. In summer and autumn, river discharges are low, and the tide dominates the hydrokinetic resource. In contrast, during winter and spring, the river discharges significantly contribute to the resource, leading to a considerable increase in the availability and capacity factors. More generally, the results imply that in areas subject to combined fluvial and tidal influences the performance of HECs may depart significantly from that in tide-dominated areas, and this departure must be carefully weighed in assessing a project. • Hydrokinetic resource under influence of tide and river discharges is investigated. • River discharges induce a pronounced seasonal variability in the hydrokinetic resource. • The hydrokinetic resource is controlled to a large extent by the hydrological regime. • River discharges lead to a considerable increase in the performance during winter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]