The Offshore Wind Resource
Presentation to Environmental Business Council Boston – September 2007
The Offshore Wind Resource Michael C Brower, PhD AWS Truewind, LLC 463 New Karner Road, Albany, New York 12205 USA t: +1.518.213.0044 | f: +1.518.213.0045 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.awstruewind.com
CONFIDENTIAL
AWS Truewind Providing Complete Project Solutions Since 1983
• • • •
Industry leader in experience and innovation Consultant for 15,000+ MW Wind maps and planning studies for over 40 countries Large international client base - Developers, Government, Financial, Utilities, Manufacturers • 65-member staff based in Albany, New York • Range of services:
CONFIDENTIAL
Offshore Experience •Long Island Power Authority 140 MW •Cape Wind 420 MW •NJ Board of Public Utilities •Bluewater Wind (Delaware) 600 MW •Great Lakes Erie & Ohio •Poland & Ireland •MTC-DOE-GE Offshore Monitoring & Modeling •NREL-DOE Offshore Mapping of U.S.
CONFIDENTIAL
Why Go Offshore? • Often a better wind resource • Enormous surface area = large potential • Avoids siting restrictions on land But • Cost is higher • Offshore has its own siting challenges • Shallow waters are limited, close to shore • Technical challenges for deep water CONFIDENTIAL
Sources of Resource Info NASA-JPL
• Surface/Upper-Air •
• • • • •
Buoys and Coastal Marine Automated Network Stations (C-MAN) Coastal met. stations (airports, CG stations) Ships (seasonal, mobile) Commercial aircraft Weather balloons Purpose-built masts
• Remote Sensing • Satellite (QSCAT)
• Modeling/Mapping • Numerical weather models • High resolution wind maps
CONFIDENTIAL
Offshore Resource Mapping New England Wind Power Class Map • Commercial Land Wind Projects Typically Require Class 4+ Wind Resource • Offshore Wind Projects Typically Require Class 5+ Due to Higher Construction Costs
CONFIDENTIAL
Mid-Atlantic Wind Power Class Map
CONFIDENTIAL
de pth
>8 m/s
ate r
7.5-8 m/s
34% 32%
10 0f
tw
50
ft
de pth
wa ter
35%+
7-7.5 m/s
30%
Offshore (100 km) Opportunity Wind Class
Area – km2
MW
3
1085
4881
4
7847
35,310
5
6614
29,761
6
338
1520
15,884
71,472
TOTAL
CONFIDENTIAL
West Coast – Wind Power Class
CONFIDENTIAL
Great Lakes Near-Coast Resource
CONFIDENTIAL
Wind Resource Modeling
CONFIDENTIAL
Site Selection, Plant Design Resource Assessment
CONFIDENTIAL
Wind Resource Mapping
CONFIDENTIAL
Water Depth
CONFIDENTIAL
Other Constraints Shipping Lanes
Bird Habitats
CONFIDENTIAL
Recommended Area
CONFIDENTIAL
Resource Information Gaps • Measurements near hub height • Unreliability of extrapolated wind speeds from buoys or satellites • Structure of wind profiles due to boundary layer stability • Incidence of low-level jets • Dissipation rate of turbine wakes • Magnitudes & probabilities of extreme gusts and coincident waves • Icing frequency and intensity
CONFIDENTIAL
Neutral Convective
Height
Stable with low level jet
? Waves
V CONFIDENTIAL
Future Needs in Offshore Wind Characterization • • • •
More wind/wave data, including far offshore Alternatives to conventional tall met masts Development of buoys equipped with profilers Greater utilization of remote sensing & mesoscale models • Collaboration with ocean agencies & related research programs • Intensive field measurement campaigns • Understanding wind - wave interactions
CONFIDENTIAL
The Offshore Wind Resource Michael C Brower, PhD AWS Truewind, LLC 463 New Karner Road, Albany, New York 12205 USA t: +1.518.213.0044 | f: +1.518.213.0045 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.awstruewind.com
CONFIDENTIAL
AWS Truewind Providing Complete Project Solutions Since 1983
• • • •
Industry leader in experience and innovation Consultant for 15,000+ MW Wind maps and planning studies for over 40 countries Large international client base - Developers, Government, Financial, Utilities, Manufacturers • 65-member staff based in Albany, New York • Range of services:
CONFIDENTIAL
Offshore Experience •Long Island Power Authority 140 MW •Cape Wind 420 MW •NJ Board of Public Utilities •Bluewater Wind (Delaware) 600 MW •Great Lakes Erie & Ohio •Poland & Ireland •MTC-DOE-GE Offshore Monitoring & Modeling •NREL-DOE Offshore Mapping of U.S.
CONFIDENTIAL
Why Go Offshore? • Often a better wind resource • Enormous surface area = large potential • Avoids siting restrictions on land But • Cost is higher • Offshore has its own siting challenges • Shallow waters are limited, close to shore • Technical challenges for deep water CONFIDENTIAL
Sources of Resource Info NASA-JPL
• Surface/Upper-Air •
• • • • •
Buoys and Coastal Marine Automated Network Stations (C-MAN) Coastal met. stations (airports, CG stations) Ships (seasonal, mobile) Commercial aircraft Weather balloons Purpose-built masts
• Remote Sensing • Satellite (QSCAT)
• Modeling/Mapping • Numerical weather models • High resolution wind maps
CONFIDENTIAL
Offshore Resource Mapping New England Wind Power Class Map • Commercial Land Wind Projects Typically Require Class 4+ Wind Resource • Offshore Wind Projects Typically Require Class 5+ Due to Higher Construction Costs
CONFIDENTIAL
Mid-Atlantic Wind Power Class Map
CONFIDENTIAL
de pth
>8 m/s
ate r
7.5-8 m/s
34% 32%
10 0f
tw
50
ft
de pth
wa ter
35%+
7-7.5 m/s
30%
Offshore (100 km) Opportunity Wind Class
Area – km2
MW
3
1085
4881
4
7847
35,310
5
6614
29,761
6
338
1520
15,884
71,472
TOTAL
CONFIDENTIAL
West Coast – Wind Power Class
CONFIDENTIAL
Great Lakes Near-Coast Resource
CONFIDENTIAL
Wind Resource Modeling
CONFIDENTIAL
Site Selection, Plant Design Resource Assessment
CONFIDENTIAL
Wind Resource Mapping
CONFIDENTIAL
Water Depth
CONFIDENTIAL
Other Constraints Shipping Lanes
Bird Habitats
CONFIDENTIAL
Recommended Area
CONFIDENTIAL
Resource Information Gaps • Measurements near hub height • Unreliability of extrapolated wind speeds from buoys or satellites • Structure of wind profiles due to boundary layer stability • Incidence of low-level jets • Dissipation rate of turbine wakes • Magnitudes & probabilities of extreme gusts and coincident waves • Icing frequency and intensity
CONFIDENTIAL
Neutral Convective
Height
Stable with low level jet
? Waves
V CONFIDENTIAL
Future Needs in Offshore Wind Characterization • • • •
More wind/wave data, including far offshore Alternatives to conventional tall met masts Development of buoys equipped with profilers Greater utilization of remote sensing & mesoscale models • Collaboration with ocean agencies & related research programs • Intensive field measurement campaigns • Understanding wind - wave interactions
CONFIDENTIAL
