Why Multi-Height Wind Forecasts Matter for Next-Generation Offshore Turbines
The offshore wind industry is moving towards larger and taller turbines. Modern offshore wind turbines can now have rotor diameters exceeding 200 metres. While larger turbines can capture more energy and improve offshore wind economics, they also challenge one of the simplifying assumptions that has guided operational wind energy forecasting for decades: that a single wind speed at hub height represents the wind energy resource available to a wind turbine. To address this emerging challenge, researchers from Rutgers University have developed a new forecasting method that harnesses advancements in artificial intelligence to produce forecasts of the full vertical wind profile swept by large offshore wind turbines.
By Ahmed Aziz Ezzat, Associate Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering, Rutgers University, USA
