Frazer-Nash report supporting The Crown Estate to optimise energy production from future offshore wind farms.
A recent Frazer-Nash report, produced for The Crown Estate, investigates the impact of various development area characteristics on energy production.
The Crown Estate “TCE” is responsible for leasing the seabed for a range of activities including the construction and operation of offshore wind farms. To maximise the attractiveness and efficiency of offshore wind as means of energy generation, TCE seeks to optimise the energy production from future and existing wind farms, whilst balancing environmental and other requirements.
It is well understood that the shape and proximity of Project Development Areas “PDAs” strongly influence the aerodynamic losses and energy production of wind farms. In the present study, Frazer-Nash have used recent improvements in aerodynamic models to re-investigate the impacts of PDA design. Our findings provide further evidence that wakes from neighbouring wind farms can materially reduce energy production and should be considered in the design of future offshore wind leasing programmes.
Eliott Lindsay, Consultant at Frazer-Nash comments:
“We are proud to support TCE and the future buildout of UK offshore wind. In deploying new techniques, our study refines estimates of farm-to-farm wake loss impacts to help improve future offshore wind farm siting. By making the findings publicly available we hope these may also benefit other project stages including turbine layout design.
The modelling study report can be accessed from The Crown Estate’s Marine Data Exchange portal.
