Figure 15: Constrained suitable areas for offshore wind power generation

Figure 15 depicts the final constrained MCE model results (weighted), with the areas with high suitability (top 30% of cells). In Scotland, most of the potential areas are concentrated in the Atlantic Ocean, close to the Western Isles in north-west Scotland. Other potential sites are found near the Orkney Islands in North Scotland. In England, there are potential sites on the Irish Sea off the coasts of Cumbria, Lancashire and Merseyside counties in north-west England. Additional sites can be found in the North Sea, off the counties of Lincolnshire in east England, and Essex and Kent in south-west England. Not many cells are highlighted near the western coast of Wales, but there are some areas off the northern and southern Welsh coastlines.

Figure 16: Constrained, suitable areas for offshore wind power generation using an MCE with equal weights

Figure 16 depicts the final constrained MCE model results when factors are assigned the same weights (0.33 each), highlighting the suitable area (top 30% of cells). This causes a noticeable, but not extreme change in the number of suitable areas. Now the number suitable cells near the eastern, south-eastern (North Sea), and north-western (Irish Sea) English shores have decreased. This is also true for most of the Welsh coastline. However, the number of areas selected as suitable in Scotland has increased, particularly in the Atlantic Ocean near the Western Isles (north-west Scotland).

Figure 17: The results of the Sensitivity Analysis

Figure 17 shows the results of the sensitivity analysis after the (constrained)weighted-MCE and the (constrained)equally-weighted-MCE results were overlaid. The areas in red are the results only obtained from the weighted-MCE, the green areas are results only obtained by the equally-weighted MCE and the areas in blue are cells shared in both scenarios. 10,714 cells were outputted from the analysis, of which 227 were selected as suitable. 66 (29%) of these cells were unique to the weighted-MCE model and 47 (21%) were unique to the equally-weighted-MCE model, meaning 114 cells (50%) were selected in both cases. Therefore, the total number of cells found in the weighted MCE model was 180 and for the equally-weighted case it was 161, meaning there was an 11% decrease in number of cells in the equally-weighted scenario. Due raster having angular units, it would be erroneous to calculate an estimated total suitable area, however it can be said that the areas shown in blue in Figure 17 should receive future analysis.