Michael J. Dvorak

Meteorology for Coastal/Offshore Wind Energy in the United States: Recommendations and Research Needs for the Next 10 Years

This document is a supplement to “Metorology for Coastal/Offshore Wind Energy in the United States: Recommendations and Research Needs for the Next 10 Years,” by Cristina L. Archer, Brian A. Colle, Luca Delle Monache, Michael J. Dvorak, Julie Lundquist, Bruce H. Bailey, Philippe Beaucage, Matthew J. Churchfield, Anna C. Fitch, Branko Kosovic, Sang Lee, Patrick J. Moriarty, Hugo Simao, Richard J. A. M. Stevens, Dana Veron, and John Zack (Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 95, 515–519) • ©2014 American Meteorological Society • Corresponding author: Cristina L. Archer, University of Delaware, College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, Newark, Delaware 19716 • E-mail: carcher@udel.edu • DOI:10.1175/BAMS-D-13-00108.2 METEOROLOGY FOR COASTAL/OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY IN THE UNITED STATES Recommendations and Research Needs for the Next 10 Years

Where is the ideal location for a US East Coast offshore grid

This paper identifies the location of an “ideal” offshore wind energy (OWE) grid on the U.S. East Coast. The ideal location would provide the highest overall and peak-time summer capacity factor, use bottom-mounted turbine foundations (depth ≤50 m), connect regional transmissions grids from New England to the Mid-Atlantic, and finally, have a smoothed power output, reduced hourly ramp rates and hours of zero power. Hourly, high-resolution mesoscale weather model data from 2006–2010 were used to approximate wind farm output. The offshore grid was located in the waters from Long Island, New York to the Georges Bank, ≈450 km east. Twelve candidate 500 MW wind farms were located randomly throughout that region. Four wind farms (2000 MW total capacity) were selected for their synergistic meteorological characteristics that reduced offshore grid variability. Sites which were likely to have sea breezes helped increase the grid capacity factor during peak time in the spring and summer months. Sites far offshore, dominated by powerful synoptic-scale storms, were included for their generally higher but more variable power output. By interconnecting all 4 farms via an offshore grid versus 4 individual interconnections, power was smoothed, the no-power events were reduced from 9% to 4%, and the combined capacity factor was 48% (gross). By interconnecting offshore wind energy farms ≈450 km apart, in regions with offshore wind energy resources driven by both synoptic-scale storms and mesoscale sea breezes, substantial reductions in low/no-power hours and hourly ramp rates can be made.