Gusts and shear within hurricane eyewalls can exceed offshore wind turbine design standards
AGU Publications|Rochelle P. Worsnop et. al. |Jun 27, 2017
This important paper examines whether modern offshore wind turbines can withstand the intensity of category 2 or better hurricanes in areas prone to such storms. The abstract of the paper is provided below, The full paper can be downloaded from the document links on this page.
This important paper examines whether modern offshore wind turbines can withstand the intensity of category 2 or better hurricanes in areas prone to such storms. The abstract of the paper is provided below, The full paper can be downloaded from the document links on this page.
Abstract
Offshore wind energy development is underway in the U.S., with proposed sites located in hurricane-prone regions. Turbine design criteria outlined by the International Electrotechnical Commission do not encompass the extreme wind speeds and directional shifts of hurricanes stronger than category 2. We examine a hurricane’s turbulent eyewall using large-eddy simulations with Cloud Model 1. Gusts and mean wind speeds near the eyewall of a category 5 hurricane exceed the current Class I turbine design thresholdof 50 m s-1 mean wind and 70 m s -1 gusts. Largest gust factors occur at the eye-eyewall interface. Further, shifts in wind direction suggest that turbines must rotate or yaw faster than current practice. Although current design standards omit mention of wind direction change across the rotor layer, large values (15–50°) suggest that veer should be considered.
