DOE, NOAA launch initiative to gather data near U.S. wind farms

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory deployed a U.S. Department of Energy lidar buoy as part of the Wind Forecast Improvement Project 3 at the Air-Sea Interaction Tower near Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. (Photo by Matt Brooking | University of Albany)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have launched an 18-month initiative to gather weather, ocean, and wildlife data near the sites of active offshore wind farms and lease areas off the coast of the Northeast United States. This is to ultimately improve the design and operation of offshore wind turbines and wind farms.

This collaboration, which is part of the third phase of the Wind Forecast Improvement Project (WFIP3), will make the collected data publicly available to inform offshore wind siting, weather forecasting, and grid integration. It will also support advancements in weather and wind plant modeling.

“The major goal of WFIP3 is to characterize the wind energy environment and what processes impact the wind speeds at hub-height,” said Dave Turner, manager of NOAA’s Atmospheric Science for Renewable Energy Program. “We want to use these insights to improve NOAA’s operational weather prediction models, which often serve as the foundational forecasts for the energy community in their daily management of their wind plants.” 

Over the last three months, researchers have deployed remote sensing instruments, offshore buoys, and towers at various locations off the coasts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Long Island. Those sites are home to Vineyard Wind, Block Island Wind Farm, South Fork Wind Farm, and seven other lease areas. Starting this week, instruments will collect real-time data on a wide range of weather-related variables and continue to do so over the next 18 months.

To ensure the coexistence of offshore wind deployment with ecosystems and other ocean users, WFIP3 platforms are also being used to monitor wildlife, including whales, birds, and bats. Wildlife data, collected alongside weather and ocean data, will improve our understanding of movement patterns and provide insight into the potential effects of offshore wind construction on wildlife in the region. 

WFIP3 is funded by DOE and NOAA and led by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, with more than 15 partners including national laboratories, universities, industry, and cooperation from local governments. The wildlife monitoring portion of the initiative is a project of Duke University with funding from DOE and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.