High Winds: Over 40 Percent of Offshore Wind Farms in Europe and Asia at Risk
More than 40 percent of turbines in European and Asian offshore wind farms are exposed to winds for which they are not designed.
(Image: fokke baarssen/Shutterstock.com)
Over 40 percent of all offshore wind farms installed in Europe and Asia are exposed to wind speeds that exceed the maximum design load of some wind turbines. This is the conclusion of a Chinese-US study that examined wind infrastructure. As a result, the participating scientists recommend improving the resilience of offshore wind turbines.
Wind turbines in offshore wind farms must withstand particularly challenging environmental conditions. These include the stress from waves and saltwater, but above all, enduring high, and at times extreme, wind speeds. In the study “Increasing extreme winds challenge offshore wind energy resilience,” published in Nature Communications, the scientists examined the different classes of wind speed design loads and compared them with the actual loads at the locations.
To achieve this, the researchers analyzed hourly wind speed data from the years between 1940 and 2023, collected on all the world's oceans. The scientists found that extreme wind speeds have increased during this period. This applies to approximately 63 percent of the coastal regions of the oceans. They cite changes in the weather system due to increasing global warming as the reason.
Wind turbines too weak for occurring winds
However, many wind power plants in offshore parks are not adequately designed for the high wind speeds that occur. The authors focused their research on offshore wind farms in Europe and Asia. Class III turbines are designed for wind speeds up to 37.5 m/s. However, more than 40 percent of the installed systems are installed or planned in areas where higher wind speeds occur or can occur. More than half of these systems are located in areas increasingly threatened by extreme wind conditions. The researchers refer in this context to studies on cyclone activities, which are increasing due to rising global warming.
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Based on the study's findings, the researchers recommend scrutinizing the wind turbines in offshore wind farms and, if necessary, adapting them to the increasingly higher wind conditions to protect the systems from damage.
(olb)
