Assessment of weather downtime for the construction of offshore wind farm by using wind and wave simulations

Abstract

In this study, numerical simulations for winds and waves were carried out using WRF and WW3 and the predicted wind speed, wave height and wave period were validated with measurement. Annual average values of absolute monthly error of wind speed, wave height and wave period were 4.30%, 12.3% and 7.8%. The prediction accuracy were improved by bias modification in the region of low wave height and short wave period. Predicted seasonal frequency distributions showed good agreement with measurements. The criteria of experienced construction methods were investigated at Choshi and Kitakyushu wind farm and the sensitivity of environmental conditions on weather downtime were clarified. At Choshi, the weather downtime was predicted by using wind and wave simulations and showed good agreement with the actual weather downtime.