Examining relative impacts of atmospheric and oceanic factors on offshore wind farms

Abstract

Accurate understanding and prediction of how ocean waves affect offshore wind farms are critical to their siting, design, and operation. This study presents a computational framework for simulating finite offshore wind farms using Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and a Dynamic Wave Spectrum Model (Dyn-WaSp). Implementation of the Dyn-WaSp with and without a correction for swell modes is compared to a static roughness (wave phase-averaged) model, which has a similar computational cost. Impacts of the different wave models on the wind’s mean velocity and turbulent kinetic energy profiles in the finite offshore wind farm are examined, and ideal available power at hub height is compared. The dynamic wave spectrum model is shown to predict lower mean velocities in comparison to the phase-averaged approach and predicts higher shear and turbulent kinetic energy, suggesting that loading on turbines is greater than would be estimated by a static roughness model.