Offshore Wind Energy
Two-thirds of potential offshore wind energy exists over deep ocean waters, where turbines must operate on platforms that move with the water. Ocean and weather systems cause difficulty in maximizing the potential of these locations. But one collaboration is working towards more effective windfarm designs. We’ll explore in the U.S. National Science Foundation’s “Discovery Files”.
The vast wind-energy potential above deep ocean waters is an enticing source for the future of renewable energy. But deep ocean windfarms operate on floating structures that are anchored to the ocean floor and are subject to wind and tidal impacts, with high costs and difficult system reliability.
Engineers at Johns Hopkins University and Portland State University, in a project jointly funded by NSF and the Department of Energy, are working together to unlock the vast potential of floating offshore windfarms in the United States. By improving understanding of how wind, waves, and turbines interact, the researchers hope to maximize power output.
Part of the project involves multiple small turbines floating on the water surface in a 5-meter wave tank, where researchers can measure many different factors simultaneously in different wind and wave conditions.
These lab experiments will be combined with a new computational approach to more accurately simulate the wind field within floating offshore windfarms — an important tool for the design and optimization of wind farms in the deep ocean environment. Their results aim to improve reliability, increase efficiency, and significantly reduce costs for renewable wind energy.