In the context of the global transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, offshore wind power has emerged as a critical resource and gained increasing attention, requiring accurate assessments of coastal wind energy potential. This study presents an integrated suitability evaluation framework for offshore wind energy around Hainan Island, utilizing multi-satellite remote-sensing observations. A fused wind product was generated by applying the optimal interpolation (OI) algorithm to scatterometer data and was subsequently used to construct a wind farm suitability index (WFSI). The results classify the coastal waters of Hainan Island into three suitability tiers, with the most favorable zones located along the west coast and near the Qiongzhou Strait, collocating with 62.5% of documented wind farm projects. Further analysis on a decadal-long comparative experiment reveals a clear linkage between local wind energy potential and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle that causes wind resources and high-suitability areas to contract during El Niño and expand during La Niña. These findings provide a refined natural source baseline for Hainan Island, clarify regional responses to climate variability, and offer a transferable remote-sensing framework for coastal wind energy assessments in similar maritime regions.
Chen et al. (Sat,) studied this question.