scholarly journals The Impact of Offshore Wind Farms on Sea State Demonstrated by Airborne LiDAR Measurements

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 644
Author(s):  
Konrad Bärfuss ◽  
Johannes Schulz-Stellenfleth ◽  
Astrid Lampert
Keyword(s):  
Spectral Energy Distribution ◽  
Laser Scanner ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Spectral Energy ◽  
Sea State ◽  
Offshore Wind Farms ◽  
The North ◽  
The Impact

The increasing number of wind farms installed in the North Sea has an impact on the downstream wind speed. This has been hypothesized as well for sea state properties. Wave effects can be expected in particular in fetch-limited conditions with offshore wind directions. With systematic flights deploying an airborne laser scanner, these impacts are shown directly for the first time. The flights were conducted perpendicular to the main wind direction upstream and downstream of the cluster of the offshore wind parks Amrumbank West, Nordsee Ost, and Meerwind Süd/Ost. The flight legs covered the area potentially influenced by the wind parks and the undisturbed area next to the wind parks. The analysis of the spectral energy distribution shows a re-distribution of the wave energy in the downstream area with enhanced energy at smaller wavelengths. The effect is still clearly visible at a distance of 55 km. As the sea surface constitutes the link between the atmosphere and the ocean, it is very likely that wind parks modify the properties of the water column as well.

Mesoscale resolving high-resolution simulation of wind farms in COSMO-CLM 5

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naveed Akhtar ◽  
Burkhardt Rockel
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Farms ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Local Meteorology ◽  
The Impact

<p>The rapid development of offshore wind farms has raised concerns about the local environment and ecosystem. Wind farms influence the local meteorology by extracting kinetic energy from the wind field and by generating a large wake. The North Sea is one of the main regions of the world where the growth of offshore wind farms is rapidly increasing. In this study, we analyze the impact of large-scale offshore wind farms in the North Sea on local meteorology using regional climate model COSMO-CLM. For this purpose, the parametrization for wind turbine driven by Fitch et al. (2012) and Blahak et al. (2010), previously implemented in COSMO-CLM v 4.8 at KU-Leuven (Chatterjee et al. 2016), has been implemented in the latest version 5 of COSMO-CLM. Here we present the first results of COSMO-CLM long-term simulations with and without wind farms using mesoscale resolving high-resolution horizontal atmospheric grid spacing (~ 2 km).</p>

Accessibility assessment for operation and maintenance of offshore wind farms in the North Sea

Wind Energy ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 637-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Martini ◽  
Raúl Guanche ◽  
Iñigo J. Losada ◽  
César Vidal
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Farms ◽  
The North ◽  
Operation And Maintenance ◽  
The North Sea

An ecosystem approach for studying the impact of offshore wind farms: a French case study

2018 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 1238-1246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Philippe Pezy ◽  
Aurore Raoux ◽  
Jean-Claude Dauvin
Keyword(s):  
Network Analysis ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Sampling Strategy ◽  
Ecosystem Approach ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Ecosystem Structure ◽  
Offshore Wind Farms ◽  
Ecopath Model ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The French government is planning the construction of offshore wind farms (OWF) in the next decade (around 2900 MW). Following the European Environmental Impact Assessment Directive 85/337/EEC, several studies have been undertaken to identify the environmental conditions and ecosystem functioning at selected sites prior to OWF construction. However, these studies are generally focused on the conservation of some species and there is no holistic approach for analysing the effects arising from OWF construction and operation. The objective of this article is to promote a sampling strategy to collect data on the different ecosystem compartments of the future Dieppe-Le Tréport (DLT) wind farm site, adopting an ecosystem approach, which could be applied to other OWFs for the implementation of a trophic network analysis. For that purpose, an Ecopath model is used here to derive indices from Ecological Network Analysis (ENA) to investigate the ecosystem structure and functioning. The results show that the ecosystem is most likely detritus-based, associated with a biomass dominated by bivalves, which could act as a dead end for a classic trophic food web since their consumption by top predators is low in comparison to their biomass. The systemic approach developed for DLT OWF site should be applied for other French and European installations of Offshore Wind Farm.

Seismic Design for Offshore Wind Farms – Lessons Learnt From the ACE Joint Industry Project

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Klose ◽  
Junkan Wang ◽  
Albert Ku
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Design ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
The United States ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Seismic Load ◽  
Support Structures ◽  
Offshore Wind Farms ◽  
Asian Pacific Region ◽  
The Impact

Abstract In the past, most of the offshore wind farms have been installed in European countries. In contrast to offshore wind projects in European waters, it became clear that the impact from earthquakes is expected to be one of the major design drivers for the wind turbines and their support structures in other areas of the world. This topic is of high importance in offshore markets in the Asian Pacific region like China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea as well as parts of the United States. So far, seismic design for wind turbines is not described in large details in existing wind energy standards while local as well as international offshore oil & gas standards do not consider the specifics of modern wind turbines. In 2019, DNV GL started a Joint Industry Project (JIP) called “ACE -Alleviating Cyclone and Earthquake challenges for wind farms”. Based on the project results, a Recommended Practice (RP) for seismic design of wind turbines and their support structures will be developed. It will supplement existing standards like DNVGL-ST-0126, DNVGL-ST-0437 and the IEC 61400 series. This paper addresses the area of seismic load calculation and the details of combining earthquake impact with other environmental loads. Different options of analysis, particularly time-domain simulations with integrated models or submodelling techniques using superelements will be presented. Seismic ground motions using a uniform profile or depth-varying input profile are discussed. Finally, the seismic load design return period is addressed.

scholarly journals Impact of Primary Frequency Control of Offshore HVDC Grids on Interarea Modes of Power Systems

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 3879 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Bidadfar ◽  
Oscar Saborío-Romano ◽  
Vladislav Akhmatov ◽  
Nicolaos A. Cutululis ◽  
Poul E. Sørensen
Keyword(s):  
Power Systems ◽  
Frequency Control ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Farms ◽  
Dc Voltage ◽  
Simultaneous Use ◽  
Primary Frequency ◽  
Primary Frequency Control ◽  
The Impact

Offshore high-voltage DC (HVDC) grids are developing as a technically reliable and economical solution to transfer more offshore wind power to onshore power systems. It is also foreseen that the offshore HVDC grids pave the way for offshore wind participation in power systems’ balancing process through frequency support. The primary frequency control mechanism in an HVDC grid can be either centralized using communication links between HVDC terminals or decentralized by the simultaneous use of DC voltage and frequency droop controls. This paper investigates the impact of both types of primary frequency control of offshore HVDC grids on onshore power system dynamics. Parametric presentation of power systems’ electro-mechanical dynamics and HVDC controls is developed to analytically prove that the primary frequency control can improve the damping of interarea modes of onshore power systems. The key findings of the paper include showing that the simultaneous use of frequency and DC voltage droop controls on onshore converters results in an autonomous share of damping torque between onshore power systems even without any participation of offshore wind farms in the frequency control. It is also found that the resulting damping from the frequency control of offshore HVDC is not always reliable as it can be nullified by the power limits of HVDC converters or wind farms. Therefore, using power oscillation damping control in parallel with frequency control is suggested. The analytical findings are verified by simulations on a three-terminal offshore HVDC grid.

New Extreme Model Applied to Mooring System Design Load Case Assessment

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando del Jesus ◽  
Raúl Guanche ◽  
Íñigo J. Losada ◽  
César Vidal
Keyword(s):  
System Design ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Reanalysis Data ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Mooring System ◽  
Offshore Wind Farms ◽  
The North ◽  
Extreme Model

Offshore wind energy turbines are being deployed massively in the North Sea. Most of the latest developments are monopile based due to the local bathymetry. However, future offshore wind farms will be located at larger water depths. Mainly because the nearest sites to the shoreline will be already occupied, future wind farms will be in 60 m water depth at least. This is, approximately, the limit for fixed support structures, such as monopiles, tripods and jackets. Some developers have already identified this need and some prototypes are under testing, such as WindFloat and Hywind. Floating wind technology will face some challenges. One of the most important ones is how to moderate the cost of the platform and the mooring system. Consequently, it is necessary to reduce the uncertainty during design steps. In this paper, new extreme mixed model will be applied to mooring system design. This extreme model combines instrumental and reanalysis data in order to obtain more accurate design parameters, reducing the uncertainty and improving the input that is required for the structural design of these concepts.

Wind wake effects of large offshore wind farms, an underrated impact on the marine ecosystem?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corinna Schrum ◽  
Naveed Akhtar ◽  
Nils Christiansen ◽  
Jeff Carpenter ◽  
Ute Daewel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Farms ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Ocean Hydrodynamics

<p>The North Sea is a world-wide hot-spot in offshore wind energy production and installed capacity is rapidly increasing. Current and potential future developments raise concerns about the implications for the environment and ecosystem. Offshore wind farms change the physical environment across scales in various ways, which have the potential to modify biogeochemical fluxes and ecosystem structure. The foundations of wind farms cause oceanic wakes and sediment fluxes into the water column. Oceanic wakes have spatial scales of about O(1km) and structure local ecosystems within and in the vicinity of wind farms. Spatially larger effects can be expected from wind deficits and atmospheric boundary layer turbulence arising from wind farms. Wind disturbances extend often over muliple tenths of kilometer and are detectable as large scale wind wakes. Moreover, boundary layer disturbances have the potential to change the local weather conditions and foster e.g. local cloud development. The atmospheric changes in turn changes ocean circulation and turbulence on the same large spatial scales and modulate ocean nutrient fluxes. The latter directly influences biological productivity and food web structure. These cascading effects from atmosphere to ocean hydrodynamics, biogeochemistry and foodwebs are likely underrated while assessing potential and risks of offshore wind.</p><p>We present latest evidence for local to regional environmental impacts, with a focus on wind wakes and discuss results from observations, remote sensing and modelling.  Using a suite of coupled atmosphere, ocean hydrodynamic and biogeochemistry models, we quantify the impact of large-scale offshore wind farms in the North Sea. The local and regional meteorological effects are studied using the regional climate model COSMO-CLM and the coupled ocean hydrodynamics-ecosystem model ECOSMO is used to study the consequent effects on ocean hydrodynamics and ocean productivity. Both models operate at a horizontal resolution of 2km.</p>

scholarly journals A Spatial Analysis of the Potentials for Offshore Wind Farm Locations in the North Sea Region: Challenges and Opportunities

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gusatu ◽  
Yamu ◽  
Zuidema ◽  
Faaij
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Water Depth ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Farms ◽  
The North ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
The North Sea

Over the last decade, the accelerated transition towards cleaner means of producing energy has been clearly prioritised by the European Union through large-scale planned deployment of wind farms in the North Sea. From a spatial planning perspective, this has not been a straight-forward process, due to substantial spatial conflicts with the traditional users of the sea, especially with fisheries and protected areas. In this article, we examine the availability of offshore space for wind farm deployment, from a transnational perspective, while taking into account different options for the management of the maritime area through four scenarios. We applied a mixed-method approach, combining expert knowledge and document analysis with the spatial visualisation of existing and future maritime spatial claims. Our calculations clearly indicate a low availability of suitable locations for offshore wind in the proximity of the shore and in shallow waters, even when considering its multi-use with fisheries and protected areas. However, the areas within 100 km from shore and with a water depth above –120 m attract greater opportunities for both single use (only offshore wind farms) and multi-use (mainly with fisheries), from an integrated planning perspective. On the other hand, the decrease of energy targets combined with sectoral planning result in clear limitations to suitable areas for offshore wind farms, indicating the necessity to consider areas with a water depth below –120 m and further than 100 km from shore. Therefore, despite the increased costs of maintenance and design adaptation, the multi-use of space can be a solution for more sustainable, stakeholder-engaged and cost-effective options in the energy deployment process. This paper identifies potential pathways, as well as challenges and opportunities for future offshore space management with the aim of achieving the 2050 renewable energy targets.

scholarly journals The ecology of infrastructure decommissioning in the North Sea: what we need to know and how to achieve it

2019 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 1109-1126 ◽  
Author(s):  
A M Fowler ◽  
A -M Jørgensen ◽  
J W P Coolen ◽  
D O B Jones ◽  
J C Svendsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Complete Removal ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Knowledge Gaps ◽  
Joint Research ◽  
Offshore Wind Farms ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea

AbstractAs decommissioning of oil and gas (O&G) installations intensifies in the North Sea, and worldwide, debate rages regarding the fate of these novel habitats and their associated biota—a debate that has important implications for future decommissioning of offshore wind farms (OWFs). Calls to relax complete removal requirements in some circumstances and allow part of an O&G installation to be left in the marine environment are increasing. Yet knowledge regarding the biological communities that develop on these structures and their ecological role in the North Sea is currently insufficient to inform such decommissioning decisions. To focus debate regarding decommissioning policy and guide ecological research, we review environmental policy objectives in the region, summarize existing knowledge regarding ecological aspects of decommissioning for both O&G and OWF installations, and identify approaches to address knowledge gaps through science–industry collaboration. We find that in some cases complete removal will conflict with other policies regarding protection and restoration of reefs, as well as the conservation of species within the region. Key ecological considerations that are rarely considered during decommissioning decisions are: (i) provision of reef habitat, (ii) productivity of offshore ecosystems, (iii) enhancement of biodiversity, (iv) protection of the seabed from trawling, and (v) enhancement of connectivity. Knowledge gaps within these areas will best be addressed using industry infrastructure and vessels for scientific investigations, re-analysis of historical data held by industry, scientific training of industry personnel, joint research funding opportunities, and trial decommissioning projects.

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