The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) have launched an 18-month initiative to collect weather, ocean and wildlife data in the vicinity of offshore wind farm operating areas and lease areas off the northeast coast of the United States.
As part of the third phase of the Wind Forecast Improvement Project (WFIP3), this effort seeks to collect high-quality data to improve the design and operation of offshore wind turbines and wind farms. Accurate forecasts are crucial to optimize wind plant production.
“The primary goal of WFIP3 is to describe the wind energy environment and the processes that affect wind speeds at hub height” explained Dave Turner, manager of NOAA’s Atmospheric Science Program for Renewable Energy. “We want to leverage this knowledge to improve NOAA’s operational weather prediction models, which often provide the critical forecasts for the energy community in the day-to-day management of their wind plants.”
The importance of weather data collection
Over the past three months, researchers have deployed remote sensing instruments, marine buoys and towers at several locations off the coasts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Long Island, where Vineyard Wind, Block Island Wind Farm, South Fork Wind Farm and seven other lease areas are located. These instruments will collect real-time data on a wide range of climate-related variables over the next 18 months.
WFIP3 platforms are also used to monitor wildlife, including whales, birds and bats. Wildlife data, collected along with meteorological and ocean data, will improve our understanding of movement patterns and provide insights into the potential effects of offshore wind farm construction on wildlife in the region.
WFIP3 is funded by DOE and NOAA and is led by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, with the collaboration of more than 15 partners, including national laboratories, universities, industry, and local government support. Wildlife monitoring is a Duke University project with funding from DOE and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
At the end of the data collection campaign, the platforms and monitoring instruments will be removed from the ocean and the data and results of the study will be published and used to improve the accuracy of weather forecasts for the region.
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Source: marinetechnologynews.com
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