MARACOOS 2012 Annual Meeting Baltimore, Maryland 1 November 2012

1. MARACOOS 2012 Annual Meeting Baltimore, Maryland 1 November 2012 Matthew Filippelli, Lead Engineer An overview of the US Offshore Wind Industry’s Met-ocean Data Needs and Applications

3. Overview • Introduction • Data applications and users • Met-ocean data parameters • Measurement Approaches • Modeling Applications • Strategies to Address Data Needs • Summary

4. Introduction • High-quality met-ocean data are essential to the successful initiation and development of an offshore wind industry in the United States. • There is a scarcity of key atmospheric/ocean measurements that adds both uncertainty and cost to the wind development process. • Current industry measurement and modeling practices are effective, but would benefit from coordinated efforts on a regional and national scale. • Collaboration with met-ocean data stakeholders is essential.

5. Data Applications during Development 1. Siting - Feasibility Studies - Exclusion Area Definition - Project Boundary Definition 2. Assessment, Design & Permitting - Resource and Energy Projections - Met-Ocean Design Conditions - Geophysical Studies - Turbine Suitability - Foundation and BOS Design - Risk Assessment

6. Data Applications during Construction & Operation 3. Construction, Certification & Commissioning - Financing - Insurance - Installation - Interconnection - Verification and Certification 4. Operations - O&M Plan Development - Production & Sea State Forecasting - Accessibility, Navigation, Safety 5. Decommissioning

7. Typical Met-ocean Data Users • Applications • Project Siting & Permitting • Energy Projections • Technology Design & Validation • Facility Design • Financing • Construction • Operations & Site Safety • Forecasting

8. Primary Data Parameters – Current and Historical ATMOSPHERE WIND MEANS, DIST., EXTREMES SHEAR, VEER, TURBULENCE ATMOSPHERIC STATE T, P, RH, PRECIP, SOLAR STABILITY, LOW LEVEL JETS CLIMATOLOGY ICING LIGHTNING Source: NREL

9. Primary Parameters – Current and Historical SURFACE-SUBSURFACE WATER STATE & PROPERTIES WATER TEMPERATURE SALINITY HYDROGRAPHIC WAVE HT, DIR, FREQ CURRENT PROFILES BIOLOGIC MARINE GROWTH GEOLOGIC BOTTOM SOIL TYPE

10. Conventional Measurement Approach • Project-specific focus on key parameters – hub height winds and shear, atmospheric stability and turbulence • Onsite, bottom-fixed, tall mast with multiple monitoring levels • Typically one mast per project with companion platforms (ADCP, wave buoy) • Broadest acceptance and highest confidence approach • Cost and permitting intensive • Increasingly impractical: • Deeper waters • Higher hub heights • Source: http://www.NoordzeeWind.nl

11. Evolving Alternate Measurement Approaches • Lidar – vertical profiling & volume scanning • Early performance returns from floating lidars are very positive; long term reliability not yet validated • Enhanced use of satellite imagery, particularly SAR • Hybrid campaigns (tower and/or lidars plus buoys) • Assumption: Define vertical profile and stability with one high-quality platform • Characterize horizontal variations with buoys • High quality, regionally representative monitoring stations • Banks/investors rely on precedent, internal expertise, and on advice of independent consultants and test results

12. Challenges & Opportunities for Measurements • Working solely on a project-scale is costly, time-consuming and data are often not broadly shared. • Until recently, the need for more offshore measurement wasn’t seen as a national priority. • Collaboration between wind industry and existing measurement and research community to leverage existing assets. • Efforts underway on a national and regional scale to support offshore wind specific programs • DOE FOAs and CHLV2 efforts • state and university efforts

13. Modeling Applications Spatial Scales and Interfaces for Flow Modeling • Defining the atmospheric boundary layer structure & dynamics • Understanding land-sea and air-sea interactions; extreme events • Extrapolating and integrating sparse data in space and time • Simulating wake generation, meandering, interactions and impacts • Aerodynamic and hydrodynamic loading of turbine structures • Forecasting next-hour and next-day generation for grid management

14. Challenges & Opportunities for Modeling • Need to improve model coupling (downscaling) to capture complex flow across scales • Need to capture and model real ‘extreme’ wind datasets for turbine/foundation design & testing • Models will benefit most from additional data for ingestion and validation, standardized measurements & data quality, and data sharing • Collaboration between industry and research community is needed to ensure definition of user needs and widely useful results • See DOE workshop report: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/wind/pdfs/complex_flow_workshop_report.pdf

15. Strategies To Address Data Needs • Create a vision & plan for an offshore metocean monitoring network • Multi-user investment in measurement system definition, deployment and data sharing • Accelerate testing/acceptance of new measurement technologies • Target modeling capability improvements • Leverage existing resources within the ocean observing community • See DOE report: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/wind/pdfs/radc_public_meeting_914-11.pdf

16. Summary • The audience for offshore wind resource and design data is diverse, and spans the life-cycle of development. • Current and near-term measurement approaches are effective, but would benefit from coordinated development and deployment strategies. • Improving model capability at different time and space scales is a priority – for a number of applications. A prerequisite is the availability of more input data, preferably meeting certain standards. • Strategies for filling metocean data gaps require public/ private investment, technical innovation, and cooperation among key stakeholders.

17. Questions or comments?mfilippelli@awstruepower.com+1.518.213.0044 x 1015 THANK YOU