Validation of Offshore Wind Fields Using Hub-Height Buoy Observations

Offshore wind energy is entering a period of rapid development in the U.S. Both on- and offshore wind plant development and operations rely upon accurate wind resource characterization; however, offshore wind has lacked the extensive observational information that has benefitted the onshore wind industry. Due to this shortage of on-site data, we have an incomplete understanding of the performance of models in U.S. waters that are essential to planning and operating offshore wind plants. A lack of observational offshore data that is both long-term and collected at typical turbine hub heights has been particularly problematic.

We utilize DOE-sponsored lidar buoy data (valid at 90 m ASL) collected off the coast of Virginia to provide a multi-season analysis of errors associated with model reanalysis and forecast products commonly used in wind energy applications. Since many models lack output at hub height, we will evaluate each product using a variety of typical low-level wind profile assumptions and interpolation techniques. From there, we will attempt to characterize the hub height wind errors with respect to spatial and temporal variability in the modeled wind fields, ramp events, and seasonal and diurnal wind resource assessment.