Extreme Wind and Waves in U.S. East Coast Offshore Wind Energy Lease Areas

Barthelmie, Rebecca J.; Dantuono, Kaitlyn E.; Renner, Emma J.; Letson, Frederick L.; Pryor, Sara C.

doi:10.3390/en14041053

Extreme Wind and Waves in U.S. East Coast Offshore Wind Energy Lease Areas

Journal Article · Tue Feb 16 23:00:00 EST 2021 · Energies

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/en14041053· OSTI ID:1848768

^[1]; Dantuono, Kaitlyn E. ^[2]; Renner, Emma J. ^[2]; Letson, Frederick L. ^[3]; ^[3]

Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States). Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)
Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States). Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States). Dept. of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

The Outer Continental Shelf along the U.S. east coast exhibits abundant wind resources and is now a geographic focus for offshore wind deployments. This analysis derives and presents expected extreme wind and wave conditions for the sixteen lease areas that are currently being developed. Using the homogeneous ERA5 reanalysis dataset it is shown that the fifty-year return period wind speed (U50) at 100 m a.s.l. in the lease areas ranges from 29.2 to 39.7 ms^-1. After applying corrections to account for spectral smoothing and averaging period, the associated pseudo-point U50 estimates are 34 to 46 ms^-1. The derived uncertainty in U50 estimates due to different distributional fitting is smaller than the uncertainty associated with under-sampling of the interannual variability in annual maximum wind speeds. It is shown that, in the northern lease areas, annual maximum wind speeds are generally associated with intense extratropical cyclones rather than cyclones of tropical origin. Extreme wave statistics are also presented and indicate that the 50-year return period maximum wave height may substantially exceed 15 m. From this analysis, there is evidence that annual maximum wind speeds and waves frequently derive from the same cyclone source and often occur within a 6 h time interval.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), Albany, NY (United States); Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States); Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

Grant/Contract Number:: EE0008390; SC0016438; SC0016605

OSTI ID:: 1848768

Journal Information:: Energies, Journal Name: Energies Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 14; ISSN 1996-1073; ISSN ENERGA

Publisher:: MDPICopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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