Offshore farm wake study
The rapid growth of new offshore wind farms will likely affect both the wind climate and possibly even the local weather. The key question is how significant these effects will be. Some wind farms may enjoy favorable wind conditions, while others further downstream might have less wind to harvest.
We have simulated multiple offshore wind farm wake studies using our in-house mesoscale model. By embedding turbines within the models, we have gained a unique capability to simulate very large farms. Our studies have shown significant impacts on neighbouring wind farms, but also a relative full wind energy recovery 70-100 km downstream of very large wind farms.
In the figures above, you can see examples from February 14, 2022, at 09 UTC with a southwesterly wind. In this situation, there are massive decreases in wind speed at 100 meters north of the virtual wind farm, with drops of 2-4 m/s. Additionally, a small speed-up in wind speed is observed northeast of the virtual wind farm. In situations with stable weather conditions, the wake and changes can be massive downstream whereas in more unstable air masses the winds above are more easily transported towards the surface.
If you are unsure how neighbouring farms might affect your future wind farm, we highly recommend simulations for assessing wind and production anomalies.
Do you need assistance with similar simulations or want to learn more about our previous offshore wake studies? Feel free to reach out to us!
