Who can use the results?
What issue does this research address?
There is an interest in the expected offshore wind resource as
a consequence of the large installed capacity of wind power
offshore in the UK. The installation of offshore wind masts
has become costly, particularly as measurements are
exceeding 100m above sea level in many cases. So, there is
an increasing interest in alternative datasets to minimise
requirement for offshore masts. These alternatives include
such as global reanalysis datasets.
The installation of offshore wind masts has become costly as
measurements are exceeding 100m above the sea level in
many cases. So, there is an increasing interest in alternative
datasets to minimise requirement for offshore masts. These
alternatives include such as global reanalysis datasets.
What method does this research use?
A set of databases were created
extracting the wind data from the
ERA-40 database around the
locations of the nine Round 3
offshore sites. On the left, the
Round 3 sites are draw in blue.
The ERA-40 data records
information in a geographical matrix
with 1 degree of resolution both for
latitude and longitude, every 6
hours (0, 6, 12 and 18). Therefore,
a bilinear algorithm was developed
to interpolated the ERA-40 data
form the 1x1 degree (t1,t2,t3 and t4)
to the point representing the centre
of Round 3 sites (tIP).
Thus, the final set of databases
created contains the statistical
analysis of the wind for the
interpolated data
Prof Simon Watson and Dr Rolando Soler-Bientz Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology
Electronic, Electrical and System Engineering Loughborough University
Variability of the UK Offshore Wind Resource
Developers and operators can use the datasets and the
statistical analysis produced by this research as alternative
source to minimise requirement for offshore masts.
What results were found?
The Wind roses of the bilinear interpolated centre point of
each Round 3 offshore site were computed and plotted as can
be seen below:
What is the impact of this research to the wind industry?
Moray Firth Firth of Forth Dogger Bank
Hornsea East Anglia Southern Array
West Isle of Wight Bristol Channel Irish Sea
Moray Firth Firth of Forth Dogger Bank
Hornsea East Anglia Southern Array
West Isle of Wight Bristol Channel Irish Sea
Directional distribution at 4 hours of the diurnal cycle:
Dogger Bank
tIP t1 t3
t2 t4
Weibull parameters
tIP t1 t2 t3 t4
k 2.089 2.103 2.101 2.066 2.089
c[m/s] 8.498 8.552 8.419 8.498 8.261
The Weibull probability distribution was also computed for
each interpolated site and its 4 surroundings as can be below
for the Dogger Bank site:
Winter Spring Summer Autumn
D
og
ger
Ban
k
W
est
Isle
of
Wig
ht
B
risto
l C
han
nel
Winter Spring Summer Autumn
D
og
ger
Ban
k
W
est
Isle
of
Wig
ht
B
risto
l C
han
nel
The Weibull
probability
distribution was also
computed for each
season. The result
for the Dogger Bank
site is shown on the
left
