Ulazia, AlainNafarrate, AnderIbarra-Berastegi, GabrielSáenz, JonCarreno-Madinabeitia, Sheila2019-07-172019-07-172019Ulazia, Alain, Ander Nafarrate, Gabriel Ibarra-Berastegi, Jon Sáenz, and Sheila Carreno-Madinabeitia. “The Consequences of Air Density Variations over Northeastern Scotland for Offshore Wind Energy Potential.” Energies 12, no. 13 (July 9, 2019): 2635. doi:10.3390/en12132635.1996-1073http://hdl.handle.net/11556/744Hywind-Scotland is a wind farm in Scotland that for many reasons is at the leading edge of technology and is located at a paradigmatic study area for offshore wind energy assessment. The objective of this paper is to compute the Capacity Factor ( CF ) changes and instantaneous power generation changes due to seasonal and hourly fluctuations in air density. For that reason, the novel ERA5 reanalysis is used as a source of temperature, pressure, and wind speed data. Seasonal results for winter show that CF values increase by 3% due to low temperatures and denser air, with economical profit consequences of tens of thousands (US$). Hourly results show variations of 7% in air density and of 26% in power generation via FAST simulations, emphasizing the need to include air density in short-term wind energy studying.engAttribution 4.0 Internationaljournal article10.3390/en12132635open accessERA5Air densityOffshore wind energyFASTScotland