Weather conditions are difficult to describe succinctly for engineering purposes and it is not yet clear which aspects are important for WT operation. Weather has been measured at sea since 1805, using the Beaufort scale summarised in Table 15.1, and this is a helpful basis for understanding the impact of weather on offshore wind farms.

Chapter Contents:

• 15.1 Wind, weather and large WTs
• 15.1.1 Introduction
• 15.1.2 Wind speed
• 15.1.3 Wind turbulence
• 15.1.4 Wave height and sea condition
• 15.1.5 Temperature
• 15.1.6 Humidity
• 15.2 Mathematics to analyse weather influence
• 15.2.1 General
• 15.2.2 Periodograms
• 15.2.3 Cross-correlograms
• 15.2.4 Concerns
• 15.3 Relationships between weather and failure rate
• 15.3.1 Wind speed
• 15.3.2 Temperature
• 15.3.3 Humidity
• 15.3.4 Wind turbulence
• 15.4 Value of this information
• 15.4.1 To wind turbine design
• 15.4.2 To wind farm operation
• 15.5 References

Inspec keywords: offshore installations; wind power plants; power system reliability

Other keywords: offshore wind farms; weather conditions; sea; Beaufort scale; offshore wind reliability

Subjects: Power systems; Reliability; Wind power plants