Citation: Nedelcu, L.-I.; Tanase, V.-M.; Rusu, E. An Evaluation of the Wind Energy along the Romanian Black Sea Coast. Inventions 2023, 8, 48. https://doi.org/10.3390/ inventions8010048 Academic Editor: Theocharis Tsoutsos Received: 30 December 2022 Revised: 28 January 2023 Accepted: 9 February 2023 Published: 13 February 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). inventions Article An Evaluation of the Wind Energy along the Romanian Black Sea Coast Laura-Ionela Nedelcu 1,2, *, Viorel-Mihai Tanase 3 and Eugen Rusu 2 1 Department of Navigation and Naval Transport, Faculty of Navigation and Naval Management, “Mircea cel Batran” Naval Academy, 1st Fulgerului Street, 900218 Constanta, Romania 2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, “Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati, 47th Domneasca Street, 800008 Galati, Romania 3 Maritime Hydrographic Directorate, 1st Fulgerului Street, 900218 Constanta, Romania * Correspondence: laura.nedelcu@anmb.ro Abstract: The present study aims to outline a general overview of the wind energy potential along the Romanian coast of the Black Sea, using the weather data provided by the Maritime Hydrographic Directorate covering a 13-year time interval (2009–2021). The data obtained from seven automatic weather coastal stations distributed along the Romanian perimeter were used to evaluate the wind regime, highlighting the Black Sea’s complex marine environment. The analysis based on the evaluation of the wind parameters per each station registered on the total period revealed that the overall wind characteristics are similar, resulting in no significant variations depending on the station’s location. Moreover, the climatic picture of the Black Sea can be interpreted as two seasons, winter and summer, a conclusion based on the analysis made of the seasonal and monthly variation of the wind aspects. Subsequently, the outcomes obtained in this research imply that the Romanian Black Sea coast has the potential to be a good location for wind energy development due to the strong winds that blow in the region. Keywords: wind potential; Romanian coast; Black Sea area; weather stations; marine environment 1. Introduction Offshore wind energy is considered an important pillar in achieving net greenhouse gas emissions. According to the European Commission, by 2050, Europe must develop between 230 and 450 GW of offshore wind capacity, which will provide up to 30% of Europe’s electricity needs. To date, Romania is the leader of Southeast Europe in terms of onshore development, with an installed capacity of 3 GW [1]. The onshore wind farm development was mainly carried out in the Dobrogea plateau, where almost 80% of the existing wind turbines in Romania are concentrated. The largest onshore wind farm in Europe is Fantanele–Cogealac, in the Dobrogea area, with an installed capacity of 600 MW [2]. Most research regarding the Black Sea wind and wave conditions indicates that the northwestern part presents a higher energy level than the eastern sector [3–8]. The evalu- ation carried out in [4], Rusu L., Bernardino M., and Guedes Soares C. outlined that the average wind speed value registered at Sulina meteorological station was 7.29 m/s, and at Chonomors’ke was 4.47 m/s, whereas at Gloria platform it was registered a value of 5.16 m/s. The observations provided by the two weather stations were made at a height of 10 m above the water, and those from the Gloria platform at a height of 36 m. In the same research, the wind speed analysis was made indicating that the western part registers significant seasonal variations, whereas the east is characterized by more stable conditions [9,10]. Furthermore, in their paper [10], the authors performed a comparison between the average wind speed from coastal stations and data provided by satellites. The analysis Inventions 2023, 8, 48. https://doi.org/10.3390/inventions8010048 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/inventions