Fit-for-Purpose Information for Offshore Wind Farming Applications—Part-II: Gap Analysis and Recommendations

Abstract

Offshore wind energy installations in coastal areas have grown massively over the last decade. This development comes with a large number of technological, environmental, economic, and scientific challenges, which need to be addressed to make the use of offshore wind energy sustainable. One important component in these optimization activities is suitable information from observations and numerical models. The purpose of this study is to analyze the gaps that exist in the present monitoring systems and their respective integration with models. This paper is the second part of two manuscripts and uses results from the first part about the requirements for different application fields. The present solutions to provide measurements for the required information products are described for several European countries with growing offshore wind operations. The gaps are then identified and discussed in different contexts, like technology evolution, trans-European monitoring and modeling initiatives, legal aspects, and cooperation between industry and science. The monitoring gaps are further quantified in terms of missing observed quantities, spatial coverage, accuracy, and continuity. Strategies to fill the gaps are discussed, and respective recommendations are provided. The study shows that there are significant information deficiencies that need to be addressed to ensure the economical and environmentally friendly growth of the offshore wind farm sector. It was also found that many of these gaps are related to insufficient information about connectivities, e.g., concerning the interactions of wind farms from different countries or the coupling between physical and biological processes.

Fit-for-Purpose Information for Offshore Wind Farming Applications—Part-I: Identification of Needs and Solutions

“…The identified observation requirements for the six OWF application areas are summarized in Table A1. Based on the outcomes of this paper, the availability and gaps of the observations will be analyzed, and the results will be reported as Part II of this study [64].…”

Sequential Model Predictive Control for Grid Connection in Offshore Wind Farms Based on Active Disturbance Rejection

“…Global renewable energy installations have achieved historically remarkable growth, constituting 83% of the total new electricity generation capacity. Offshore wind power development has been particularly conspicuous and is increasingly playing an important role in promoting economic growth and enhancing energy security [2].…”