Wind power production from very large offshore wind farms

Pryor, Sara C.; Barthelmie, Rebecca J.; Shepherd, Tristan J.

doi:10.1016/j.joule.2021.09.002

Wind power production from very large offshore wind farms

Journal Article · Thu Sep 30 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Joule

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2021.09.002· OSTI ID:1977381

Pryor, Sara C. ^[1]; Barthelmie, Rebecca J. ^[2]; Shepherd, Tristan J. ^[2]

Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States); OSTI
Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)

In this work, we provide the first quantitative assessment of power production and wake generation from offshore wind energy lease areas along the U.S. east coast. Deploying 15-MW wind turbines, with spacing equal to the European average, yields electricity production of 116 TWh/year or 3% of current national supply. However, power production is reduced by one-third due to wakes caused by upwind wind turbines and wind farms. Under some flow conditions whole wind-farm wakes can extend up to 90 km downwind of the largest lease areas, and the frequency-weighted average area with a 5% velocity deficit is 2.6 times the footprint of the lease areas. Simulations including maritime corridors demonstrate reduction in the wake effects leading to power-efficiency gains and may offer contingent benefits. First-order scaling rules are developed that describe how “wake shadows” from large offshore wind farms scale with prevailing meteorology and wind turbine installed densities.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Oakland, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium; National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE); USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231; SC0016605

OSTI ID:: 1977381

Journal Information:: Joule, Journal Name: Joule Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 5; ISSN 2542-4351

Publisher:: Elsevier - Cell PressCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (43)

What global reanalysis best represents near‐surface winds? Ramon, Jaume; Lledó, Llorenç; Torralba, Verónica Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 145, Issue 724 https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3616	journal	August 2019
Quality of wind characteristics in recent wind atlases over the North Sea Kalverla, Peter C.; Holtslag, Albert A. M.; Ronda, Reinder J. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 146, Issue 728 https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3748	journal	February 2020
The ERA5 global reanalysis Hersbach, Hans; Bell, Bill; Berrisford, Paul Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 146, Issue 730 https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3803	journal	June 2020
Evaluation of wind farm efficiency and wind turbine wakes at the Nysted offshore wind farm Barthelmie, R. J.; Jensen, L. E. Wind Energy, Vol. 13, Issue 6, p. 573-586 https://doi.org/10.1002/we.408	journal	May 2010
Production of the Finnish Wind Atlas: Production of the Finnish Wind Atlas Tammelin, Bengt; Vihma, Timo; Atlaskin, Evgeny Wind Energy, Vol. 16, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1002/we.517	journal	December 2011
Improving the coexistence of offshore wind farms and shipping: an international comparison of navigational risk assessment processes Mehdi, Raza Ali; Schröder-Hinrichs, Jens-Uwe; van Overloop, Jeroen WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs, Vol. 17, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s13437-018-0149-0	journal	July 2018
Fatigue loads for wind turbines operating in wakes Thomsen, Kenneth; Sørensen, Poul Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, Vol. 80, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-6105(98)00194-9	journal	March 1999
Global levelised cost of electricity from offshore wind Bosch, Jonathan; Staffell, Iain; Hawkes, Adam D. Energy, Vol. 189 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2019.116357	journal	December 2019
Data investigation of installed and output power densities of onshore and offshore wind turbines worldwide Enevoldsen, Peter; Jacobson, Mark Z. Energy for Sustainable Development, Vol. 60 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esd.2020.11.004	journal	February 2021
100% Clean and Renewable Wind, Water, and Sunlight All-Sector Energy Roadmaps for 139 Countries of the World Jacobson, Mark Z.; Delucchi, Mark A.; Bauer, Zack A. F. Joule, Vol. 1, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2017.07.005	journal	September 2017
Getting it right for the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis): A last opportunity for effective marine spatial planning? Petruny, Loren M.; Wright, Andrew J.; Smith, Courtney E. Marine Pollution Bulletin, Vol. 85, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.06.004	journal	August 2014
Evolution of flow characteristics through finite-sized wind farms and influence of turbine arrangement Sharma, V.; Cortina, G.; Margairaz, F. Renewable Energy, Vol. 115 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2017.08.075	journal	January 2018
Techno-economic optimisation of offshore wind farms based on life cycle cost analysis on the UK Mytilinou, Varvara; Kolios, Athanasios J. Renewable Energy, Vol. 132 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2018.07.146	journal	March 2019
A lifecycle financial analysis model for offshore wind farms Judge, Frances; McAuliffe, Fiona Devoy; Sperstad, Iver Bakken Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 103 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2018.12.045	journal	April 2019
Observations and simulations of diurnal cycles of near-surface wind speeds over land and sea Barthelmie, R. J.; Grisogono, B.; Pryor, S. C. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 101, Issue D16 https://doi.org/10.1029/96JD01520	journal	September 1996
Rapid cost decrease of renewables and storage accelerates the decarbonization of China’s power system He, Gang; Lin, Jiang; Sifuentes, Froylan Nature Communications, Vol. 11, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16184-x	journal	May 2020
Costs and consequences of wind turbine wake effects arising from uncoordinated wind energy development Lundquist, J. K.; DuVivier, K. K.; Kaffine, D. Nature Energy, Vol. 4, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-018-0281-2	journal	November 2018
Offshore wind competitiveness in mature markets without subsidy Jansen, Malte; Staffell, Iain; Kitzing, Lena Nature Energy, Vol. 5, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-020-0661-2	journal	July 2020
Expert elicitation survey predicts 37% to 49% declines in wind energy costs by 2050 Wiser, Ryan; Rand, Joseph; Seel, Joachim Nature Energy, Vol. 6, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-021-00810-z	journal	April 2021
First in situ evidence of wakes in the far field behind offshore wind farms Platis, Andreas; Siedersleben, Simon K.; Bange, Jens Scientific Reports, Vol. 8, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-20389-y	journal	February 2018
20% of US electricity from wind will have limited impacts on system efficiency and regional climate Pryor, S. C.; Barthelmie, R. J.; Shepherd, T. J. Scientific Reports, Vol. 10, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-57371-1	journal	January 2020
Climate change impacts on wind power generation Pryor, Sara C.; Barthelmie, Rebecca J.; Bukovsky, Melissa S. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Vol. 1, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-020-0101-7	journal	October 2020
Two methods for estimating limits to large-scale wind power generation Miller, Lee M.; Brunsell, Nathaniel A.; Mechem, David B. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 112, Issue 36 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1408251112	journal	August 2015
Efficient large-scale wind turbine deployment can meet global electricity generation needs Badger, Jake; Volker, Patrick J. H. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 114, Issue 43 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1708350114	journal	October 2017
Prospects for generating electricity by large onshore and offshore wind farms Volker, Patrick J. H.; Hahmann, Andrea N.; Badger, Jake Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 12, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5d86	journal	March 2017
Observation-based solar and wind power capacity factors and power densities Miller, Lee M.; Keith, David W. Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 13, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aae102	journal	October 2018
Corrigendum: Observation-based solar and wind power capacity factors and power densities (2018 Environ. Res. Lett. 13 104008) Miller, Lee M.; Keith, David W. Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 14, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aaf9cf	journal	July 2019
Meteorological Controls on Wind Turbine Wakes Barthelmie, Rebecca J.; Hansen, Kurt S.; Pryor, Sara C. Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 101, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1109/JPROC.2012.2204029	journal	April 2013
Grand challenges in the science of wind energy Veers, Paul; Dykes, Katherine; Lantz, Eric Science, Vol. 366, Issue 6464 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aau2027	journal	October 2019
Quantifying the Impact of Wind Turbine Wakes on Power Output at Offshore Wind Farms Barthelmie, R. J.; Pryor, S. C.; Frandsen, S. T. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, Vol. 27, Issue 8, p. 1302-1317 https://doi.org/10.1175/2010JTECHA1398.1	journal	August 2010
“Wind Theft” from Onshore Wind Turbine Arrays: Sensitivity to Wind Farm Parameterization and Resolution Pryor, Sara C.; Shepherd, Tristan J.; Volker, Patrick J. H. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, Vol. 59, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-19-0235.1	journal	January 2020
Variability in Wind Energy Generation across the Contiguous United States Pryor, S. C.; Letson, F. W.; Barthelmie, R. J. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, Vol. 59, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-20-0162.1	journal	December 2020
Local and Mesoscale Impacts of Wind Farms as Parameterized in a Mesoscale NWP Model Fitch, Anna C.; Olson, Joseph B.; Lundquist, Julie K. Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 140, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-11-00352.1	journal	September 2012
Two Corrections for Turbulent Kinetic Energy Generated by Wind Farms in the WRF Model Archer, Cristina L.; Wu, Sicheng; Ma, Yulong Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 148, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-20-0097.1	journal	December 2020
Flow Adjustment Inside and Around Large Finite-Size Wind Farms Wu, Ka; Porté-Agel, Fernando Energies, Vol. 10, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.3390/en10122164	journal	December 2017
Extreme Wind and Waves in U.S. East Coast Offshore Wind Energy Lease Areas Barthelmie, Rebecca J.; Dantuono, Kaitlyn E.; Renner, Emma J. Energies, Vol. 14, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.3390/en14041053	journal	February 2021
Using Satellite SAR to Characterize the Wind Flow around Offshore Wind Farms Hasager, Charlotte; Vincent, Pauline; Badger, Jake Energies, Vol. 8, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.3390/en8065413	journal	June 2015
Evaluation of ERA5, MERRA-2, COSMO-REA6, NEWA and AROME to simulate wind power production over France Jourdier, Bénédicte Advances in Science and Research, Vol. 17 https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-17-63-2020	journal	January 2020
The making of the New European Wind Atlas – Part 1: Model sensitivity Hahmann, Andrea N.; Sīle, Tija; Witha, Björn Geoscientific Model Development, Vol. 13, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-5053-2020	journal	January 2020
The Explicit Wake Parametrisation V1.0: a wind farm parametrisation in the mesoscale model WRF Volker, P. J. H.; Badger, J.; Hahmann, A. N. Geoscientific Model Development, Vol. 8, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-3715-2015	journal	January 2015
US East Coast synthetic aperture radar wind atlas for offshore wind energy Ahsbahs, Tobias; Maclaurin, Galen; Draxl, Caroline Wind Energy Science, Vol. 5, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-5-1191-2020	journal	January 2020
Cluster wakes impact on a far-distant offshore wind farm's power Schneemann, Jörge; Rott, Andreas; Dörenkämper, Martin Wind Energy Science, Vol. 5, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-5-29-2020	journal	January 2020
An overview of wind-energy-production prediction bias, losses, and uncertainties Lee, Joseph C. Y.; Fields, M. Jason Wind Energy Science, Vol. 6, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-6-311-2021	journal	January 2021

Similar Records

Synergistic Effects of Turbine Wakes and Atmospheric Stability on Power Production at an Onshore Wind Farm

Technical Report · Mon Jan 30 19:00:00 EST 2012 · OSTI ID:1035607

Integrated floating wind farm layout design and mooring system optimization to increase annual energy production

Journal Article · Sun Jun 09 20:00:00 EDT 2024 · Journal of Physics. Conference Series · OSTI ID:2396308

Power Production, Inter- and Intra-Array Wake Losses from the U.S. East Coast Offshore Wind Energy Lease Areas

Journal Article · Thu Feb 22 19:00:00 EST 2024 · Energies · OSTI ID:2311233

Related Subjects

15 MW
17 WIND ENERGY
Chemistry
Energy & Fuels
Materials science
US east coast
atmosphere-turbine interactions
capacity factors
electricity-generation efficiency
offshore wind
wakes
wind energy
wind shadows
wind turbines

Wind power production from very large offshore wind farms

Citation Formats

References (43)

Similar Records

Related Subjects