scholarly journals Occurrence of Low-Level Jets over the Eastern U.S. Coastal Zone at Heights Relevant to Wind Energy

Energies ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 445
Author(s):  
Jeanie A. Aird ◽  
Rebecca J. Barthelmie ◽  
Tristan J. Shepherd ◽  
Sara C. Pryor

Two years of high-resolution simulations conducted with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model are used to characterize the frequency, intensity and height of low-level jets (LLJ) over the U.S. Atlantic coastal zone. Meteorological conditions and the occurrence and characteristics of LLJs are described for (i) the centroids of thirteen of the sixteen active offshore wind energy lease areas off the U.S. east coast and (ii) along two transects extending east from the U.S. coastline across the northern lease areas (LA). Flow close to the nominal hub-height of wind turbines is predominantly northwesterly and southwesterly and exhibits pronounced seasonality, with highest wind speeds in November, and lowest wind speeds in June. LLJs diagnosed using vertical profiles of modeled wind speeds from approximately 20 to 530 m above sea level exhibit highest frequency in LA south of Massachusetts, where LLJs are identified in up to 12% of hours in June. LLJs are considerably less frequent further south along the U.S. east coast and outside of the summer season. LLJs frequently occur at heights that intersect the wind turbine rotor plane, and at wind speeds within typical wind turbine operating ranges. LLJs are most frequent, intense and have lowest core heights under strong horizontal temperature gradients and lower planetary boundary layer heights.

2020 ◽  
Vol 184 ◽  
pp. 01094
Author(s):  
C Lavanya ◽  
Nandyala Darga Kumar

Wind energy is the renewable sources of energy and it is used to generate electricity. The wind farms can be constructed on land and offshore where higher wind speeds are prevailing. Most offshore wind farms employ fixed-foundation wind turbines in relatively shallow water. In deep waters floating wind turbines have gained popularity and are recent development. This paper discusses the various types of foundations which are in practice for use in wind turbine towers installed on land and offshore. The applicability of foundations based on depth of seabed and distance of wind farm from the shore are discussed. Also, discussed the improvement methods of weak or soft soils for the foundations of wind turbine towers.


2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 1043-1052 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Barthelmie ◽  
A. M. Sempreviva ◽  
S. C. Pryor

Abstract. Wind energy developments offshore focus on larger turbines to keep the relative cost of the foundation per MW of installed capacity low. Hence typical wind turbine hub-heights are extending to 100 m and potentially beyond. However, measurements to these heights are not usually available, requiring extrapolation from lower measurements. With humid conditions and low mechanical turbulence offshore, deviations from the traditional logarithmic wind speed profile become significant and stability corrections are required. This research focuses on quantifying the effect of humidity fluxes on stability corrected wind speed profiles. The effect on wind speed profiles is found to be important in stable conditions where including humidity fluxes forces conditions towards neutral. Our results show that excluding humidity fluxes leads to average predicted wind speeds at 150 m from 10 m which are up to 4% higher than if humidity fluxes are included, and the results are not very sensitive to the method selected to estimate humidity fluxes.


Author(s):  
S. G. Ignatiev ◽  
S. V. Kiseleva

Optimization of the autonomous wind-diesel plants composition and of their power for guaranteed energy supply, despite the long history of research, the diversity of approaches and methods, is an urgent problem. In this paper, a detailed analysis of the wind energy characteristics is proposed to shape an autonomous power system for a guaranteed power supply with predominance wind energy. The analysis was carried out on the basis of wind speed measurements in the south of the European part of Russia during 8 months at different heights with a discreteness of 10 minutes. As a result, we have obtained a sequence of average daily wind speeds and the sequences constructed by arbitrary variations in the distribution of average daily wind speeds in this interval. These sequences have been used to calculate energy balances in systems (wind turbines + diesel generator + consumer with constant and limited daily energy demand) and (wind turbines + diesel generator + consumer with constant and limited daily energy demand + energy storage). In order to maximize the use of wind energy, the wind turbine integrally for the period in question is assumed to produce the required amount of energy. For the generality of consideration, we have introduced the relative values of the required energy, relative energy produced by the wind turbine and the diesel generator and relative storage capacity by normalizing them to the swept area of the wind wheel. The paper shows the effect of the average wind speed over the period on the energy characteristics of the system (wind turbine + diesel generator + consumer). It was found that the wind turbine energy produced, wind turbine energy used by the consumer, fuel consumption, and fuel economy depend (close to cubic dependence) upon the specified average wind speed. It was found that, for the same system with a limited amount of required energy and high average wind speed over the period, the wind turbines with lower generator power and smaller wind wheel radius use wind energy more efficiently than the wind turbines with higher generator power and larger wind wheel radius at less average wind speed. For the system (wind turbine + diesel generator + energy storage + consumer) with increasing average speed for a given amount of energy required, which in general is covered by the energy production of wind turbines for the period, the maximum size capacity of the storage device decreases. With decreasing the energy storage capacity, the influence of the random nature of the change in wind speed decreases, and at some values of the relative capacity, it can be neglected.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara C. Pryor ◽  
Tristan J. Shepherd ◽  
Rebecca J. Barthelmie

Abstract. Inter-annual variability (IAV) of expected annual energy production (AEP) from proposed wind farms plays a key role in dictating project financing. IAV in pre-construction projected AEP and the difference in 50th and 90th percentile (P50 and P90) AEP derives in part from variability in wind climates. However, the magnitude of IAV in wind speeds at/close to wind turbine hub-heights is poorly constrained and maybe overestimated by the 6 % standard deviation of annual mean wind speeds that is widely applied within the wind energy industry. Thus there is a need for improved understanding of the long-term wind resource and the inter-annual variability therein in order to generate more robust predictions of the financial value of a wind energy project. Long-term simulations of wind speeds near typical wind turbine hub-heights over the eastern USA indicate median gross capacity factors (computed using 10-minute wind speeds close to wind turbine hub-heights and the power curve of the most common wind turbine deployed in the region) that are in good agreement with values derived from operational wind farms. The IAV of annual mean wind speeds at/near to typical wind turbine hub-heights in these simulations is lower than is implied by assuming a standard deviation of 6 %. Indeed, rather than in 9 in 10 years exhibiting AEP within 0.9 and 1.1 times the long-term mean AEP, results presented herein indicate that over 90 % of the area in the eastern USA that currently has operating wind turbines simulated AEP lies within 0.94 and 1.06 of the long-term average. Further, IAV of estimated AEP is not substantially larger than IAV in mean wind speeds. These results indicate it may be appropriate to reduce the IAV applied to pre-construction AEP estimates to account for variability in wind climates, which would decrease the cost of capital for wind farm developments.


2021 ◽  
Vol 104 ◽  
pp. 83-88
Author(s):  
Rahmat Wahyudi ◽  
Diniar Mungil Kurniawati ◽  
Alfian Djafar

The potential of wind energy is very abundant but its utilization is still low. The effort to utilize wind energy is to utilize wind energy into electrical energy using wind turbines. Savonius wind turbines have a very simple shape and construction, are inexpensive, and can be used at low wind speeds. This research aims to determine the effect of the slot angle on the slotted blades configuration on the performance produced by Savonius wind turbines. Slot angle variations used are 5o ,10o , and 15o with slotted blades 30% at wind speeds of 2,23 m/s to 4,7 m/s using wind tunnel. The result showed that a small slot angle variation of 5o produced better wind turbine performance compared to a standard blade at low wind speeds and a low tip speed ratio.


Author(s):  
Evgenii Ignatev ◽  
Galina Deryugina ◽  
Htet Myat Htoon ◽  
Mikhail Tyagunov

One of Myanmar's problems is energy shortage. Partially, energy shortage can possibly be decreased by the construction of sizeable grid-connected offshore wind farms. Eight prospective construction sites were selected and wind turbine models chosen. This chapter describes the method for determining the optimal composition of the wind farms complex, consisting of several offshore wind farms located at a considerable distance from each other in areas with significant wind regime asynchrony. To illustrate this method, the optimal composition with an installed capacity of 47.6 MW and located off Myanmar's west coast is defined.


2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 37-43
Author(s):  
Alicia M. Gorton ◽  
Will J. Shaw

AbstractAs countries continue to implement sustainable and renewable energy goals, the need for affordable low-carbon technologies, including those related to offshore wind energy, is accelerating. The U.S. federal government recognizes the environmental and economic benefits of offshore wind development and is taking the necessary steps to overcome critical challenges facing the industry to realize these benefits. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is investing in buoy-mounted lidar systems to facilitate offshore measurement campaigns that will advance our understanding of the offshore environment and provide the observational data needed for model validation, particularly at hub height where offshore observations are particularly lacking. On behalf of the DOE, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory manages a Lidar Buoy Program that facilitates meteorological and oceanographic data collection using validated methods to support the U.S. offshore wind industry. Since being acquired in 2014, two DOE lidar buoys have been deployed on the U.S. east and west coasts, and their data represent the first publicly available multi-seasonal hub height data to be collected in U.S. waters. In addition, the buoys have undergone performance testing, significant upgrades, and a lidar validation campaign to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the lidar data needed to support wind resource characterization and model validation (the lidars were validated against a reference lidar installed on the Air-Sea Interaction Tower operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution). The Lidar Buoy Program is providing valuable offshore data to the wind energy community, while focusing data collection on areas of acknowledged high priority.


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