Who can use the results?

What issue does this research address?

There is an interest in the expected offshore wind resource as

a consequence of the large installed capacity of wind power

offshore in the UK. The installation of offshore wind masts

has become costly, particularly as measurements are

exceeding 100m above sea level in many cases. So, there is

an increasing interest in alternative datasets to minimise

requirement for offshore masts. These alternatives include

such as global reanalysis datasets.

The installation of offshore wind masts has become costly as

measurements are exceeding 100m above the sea level in

many cases. So, there is an increasing interest in alternative

datasets to minimise requirement for offshore masts. These

alternatives include such as global reanalysis datasets.

What method does this research use?

A set of databases were created

extracting the wind data from the

ERA-40 database around the

locations of the nine Round 3

offshore sites. On the left, the

Round 3 sites are draw in blue.

The ERA-40 data records

information in a geographical matrix

with 1 degree of resolution both for

latitude and longitude, every 6

hours (0, 6, 12 and 18). Therefore,

a bilinear algorithm was developed

to interpolated the ERA-40 data

form the 1x1 degree (t1,t2,t3 and t4)

to the point representing the centre

of Round 3 sites (tIP).

Thus, the final set of databases

created contains the statistical

analysis of the wind for the

interpolated data

Prof Simon Watson and Dr Rolando Soler-Bientz Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology

Electronic, Electrical and System Engineering Loughborough University

Variability of the UK Offshore Wind Resource

Developers and operators can use the datasets and the

statistical analysis produced by this research as alternative

source to minimise requirement for offshore masts.

What results were found?

The Wind roses of the bilinear interpolated centre point of

each Round 3 offshore site were computed and plotted as can

be seen below:

What is the impact of this research to the wind industry?

Moray Firth Firth of Forth Dogger Bank

Hornsea East Anglia Southern Array

West Isle of Wight Bristol Channel Irish Sea

Moray Firth Firth of Forth Dogger Bank

Hornsea East Anglia Southern Array

West Isle of Wight Bristol Channel Irish Sea

Directional distribution at 4 hours of the diurnal cycle:

Dogger Bank

tIP t1 t3

t2 t4

Weibull parameters

tIP t1 t2 t3 t4

k 2.089 2.103 2.101 2.066 2.089

c[m/s] 8.498 8.552 8.419 8.498 8.261

The Weibull probability distribution was also computed for

each interpolated site and its 4 surroundings as can be below

for the Dogger Bank site:

Winter Spring Summer Autumn

D

og

ger

Ban

k

W

est

Isle

of

Wig

ht

B

risto

l C

han

nel

Winter Spring Summer Autumn

D

og

ger

Ban

k

W

est

Isle

of

Wig

ht

B

risto

l C

han

nel

The Weibull

probability

distribution was also

computed for each

season. The result

for the Dogger Bank

site is shown on the

left