North Atlantic Offshore Wind Characteristics Modeling and Comparison with Field Measurements and Industry Standards

Wind characteristics are critical to offshore wind resource development. The power output from a wind turbine is very sensitive to the wind speed (proportional to the cube of the wind speed). Wind speed measurement is often limited to surface area close to Lidar buoys or meteorological stations and up to 200m due to the range of remote sensing devices. On the other hand, wind fields from ground level and up to 20000m above ground level can be simulated using Weather Research & Forecasting (WRF) model. In this study, WRF simulations are performed for the North Atlantic offshore waters to obtain wind speed time and spatial properties. Statistics of wind speeds for selected sites are derived and validated with field measurements. Wind vertical profiles are compared with ISO and IEC standards, and a power law profile is further derived to find the best fit. It is also demonstrated that the WRF model is reliable to forecast wind data, optimize prediction and improve reliability for coastal and offshore energy development. The wind modeling and characterizing can be extended to global regions to identify prospects with the most renewable energy potentials.