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Modelling of the marine boundary layer

Optimal design, placement, and operation of offshore wind turbines with respect to energy production and costs requires accurate descriptions of the loads from waves and wind on the individual production units, and hence detailed knowledge of the MBL. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) will be employed to model mesoscale atmospheric conditions and air-sea interactions. A specialised CFD tool for wind power applications called FLACS-Wind will be developed, where the results obtained at mesoscale can be used as boundary conditions for more detailed simulations of offshore wind turbines and offshore wind farms. In parallel, the mesoscale model used (WRF) will be run in a large-eddy simulation (LES) mode nested within itself. The WRF model is also coupled to wave models (WAM and SWAN) so that relevant variables such as sea-surface roughness and vertical momentum transport) may be exchanged. The overall model system covers all relevant scales, from the global to the micro-scale. It may be used for climatology assessment, forecasts and case studies.

Climatology of met/ocean conditions and its importance for offshore wind energy production

The depreciation time for offshore wind parks and associated infrastructure is comparable to the timescale of climate change. Recent studies indicate that storm tracks are sensitive to changes in climate, and reliable long-term predictions of wind conditions should therefore include updated climate change forecasts. Pricing of offshore wind power energy will be heavily dependent on supply and demand, and thus on electrical grid capacity. Variations of large-scale weather patterns such as long-lasting blocking high pressure systems and storm tracks will be controlling factors for dimensioning grid capacity. An improved understanding of such weather patterns will support more optimal predictions of the grid and expected price.