MARACOOS 2012 Annual Meeting Baltimore, Maryland 1 November 2012

Albany, New York | Barcelona, Spain | Bangalore, India | awstruepower.com | +1 877-899-3463©2011 AWS Truepower, LLC

MARACOOS 2012 Annual MeetingBaltimore, Maryland

1 November 2012

Matthew Filippelli, Lead Engineer

An overview of the US Offshore Wind Industry’s Met-ocean Data Needs and Applications


AlbanyNew York, USA

BarcelonaSpain

BangaloreIndia

• Over 100 professional staff• Experts in meteorology, spatial analysis,

environment, and engineering• Seasoned project managers and field

technicians

• Established in 1983; nearly 30 years of renewable energy industry experience

• Independent assessments on 60,000+ MW

• Project roles in over 80 countries

Company Snapshot


Overview

• Introduction• Data applications and users• Met-ocean data parameters• Measurement Approaches• Modeling Applications• Strategies to Address Data

Needs• Summary


©2011 AWS Truepower, LLC

Introduction• High-quality met-ocean data are essential to the successful initiation and

development of an offshore wind industry in the United States. • There is a scarcity of key atmospheric/ocean measurements that adds

both uncertainty and cost to the wind development process.• Current industry measurement and modeling practices are effective, but

would benefit from coordinated efforts on a regional and national scale. • Collaboration with met-ocean data stakeholders is essential.


Data Applications during Development

1. Siting- Feasibility Studies- Exclusion Area Definition- Project Boundary Definition

2. Assessment, Design & Permitting- Resource and Energy Projections- Met-Ocean Design Conditions- Geophysical Studies- Turbine Suitability- Foundation and BOS Design- Risk Assessment


Data Applications during Construction & Operation

3. Construction, Certification & Commissioning- Financing

- Insurance- Installation- Interconnection- Verification and Certification

4. Operations- O&M Plan Development- Production & Sea State Forecasting- Accessibility, Navigation, Safety

5. Decommissioning


Typical Met-ocean Data Users

Developers and OEMs

Banks, Investors & Insurance

Providers

Technical Experts &

Researchers

Marine Engineers & Construction

Firms

0&M Providers and Human

Safety

Utilities/Grid Operators

Government Agencies & Regulators

Applications• Project Siting & Permitting• Energy Projections• Technology Design & Validation• Facility Design• Financing • Construction• Operations & Site Safety• Forecasting


Primary Data Parameters – Current and Historical

ATMOSPHERE WIND

MEANS, DIST., EXTREMES

SHEAR, VEER, TURBULENCE

ATMOSPHERIC STATE T, P, RH, PRECIP,

SOLAR STABILITY, LOW

LEVEL JETS

CLIMATOLOGY ICING LIGHTNING

Source: NREL


Primary Parameters – Current and Historical

SURFACE-SUBSURFACE WATER STATE & PROPERTIES

WATER TEMPERATURE

SALINITY HYDROGRAPHIC

WAVE HT, DIR, FREQ

CURRENT PROFILES

BIOLOGIC MARINE

GROWTH

GEOLOGIC BOTTOM SOIL

TYPE


Conventional Measurement Approach• Project-specific focus on key parameters – hub height

winds and shear, atmospheric stability and turbulence• Onsite, bottom-fixed, tall mast with multiple

monitoring levels• Typically one mast per project with companion

platforms (ADCP, wave buoy)• Broadest acceptance and highest confidence

approach• Cost and permitting intensive• Increasingly impractical:

– Deeper waters– Higher hub heights

Source: http://w

ww

.NoordzeeW

ind.nl


Evolving Alternate Measurement Approaches• Lidar – vertical profiling & volume scanning

– Early performance returns from floating lidars are very positive; long term reliability not yet validated

• Enhanced use of satellite imagery, particularly SAR• Hybrid campaigns (tower and/or lidars plus buoys)

– Assumption: Define vertical profile and stability with one high-quality platform

– Characterize horizontal variations with buoys• High quality, regionally representative monitoring

stations• Banks/investors rely on precedent, internal

expertise, and on advice of independent consultants and test results


Challenges & Opportunities for Measurements

• Working solely on a project-scale is costly, time-consuming and data are often not broadly shared.

• Until recently, the need for more offshore measurement wasn’t seen as a national priority.

• Collaboration between wind industry and existing measurement and research community to leverage existing assets.

• Efforts underway on a national and regional scale to support offshore wind specific programs– DOE FOAs and CHLV2 efforts– state and university efforts


Modeling Applications

• Defining the atmospheric boundary layer structure & dynamics• Understanding land-sea and air-sea interactions; extreme events• Extrapolating and integrating sparse data in space and time• Simulating wake generation, meandering, interactions and impacts • Aerodynamic and hydrodynamic loading of turbine structures• Forecasting next-hour and next-day generation for grid management

Spatial Scales and Interfaces for Flow Modeling


Challenges & Opportunities for Modeling

• Need to improve model coupling (downscaling) to capture complex flow across scales

• Need to capture and model real ‘extreme’ wind datasets for turbine/foundation design & testing

• Models will benefit most from additional data for ingestion and validation, standardized measurements & data quality, and data sharing

• Collaboration between industry and research community is needed to ensure definition of user needs and widely useful results

• See DOE workshop report:http://www1.eere.energy.gov/wind/pdfs/complex_flow_workshop_report.pdf

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/wind/pdfs/complex_flow_workshop_report.pdf


Strategies To Address Data Needs• Create a vision & plan for an offshore

metocean monitoring network• Multi-user investment in measurement

system definition, deployment and data sharing

• Accelerate testing/acceptance of new measurement technologies

• Target modeling capability improvements• Leverage existing resources within the

ocean observing community• See DOE report:

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/wind/pdfs/radc_public_meeting_914-11.pdf

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/wind/pdfs/complex_flow_workshop_report.pdf


Summary• The audience for offshore wind resource and design data is

diverse, and spans the life-cycle of development. • Current and near-term measurement approaches are effective,

but would benefit from coordinated development and deployment strategies.

• Improving model capability at different time and space scales is a priority – for a number of applications. A prerequisite is the availability of more input data, preferably meeting certain standards.

• Strategies for filling metocean data gaps require public/ private investment, technical innovation, and cooperation among key stakeholders.


Questions or comments?

[email protected]+1.518.213.0044 x 1015

THANK YOU

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

MARACOOS 2012 Annual Meeting Baltimore, Maryland 1 November 2012