The last time winds of 45m/s ripped across North West Europe was on October 28th, the time before that was in the early winter of 2007.
Today on the 5th December North West Europe is experiencing these winds for a second time in a few weeks. Again offshore wind turbines will be non productive as the wind speed exceed their safe working parameters.
The difference between today and 28th October is that the TSO’s are prepared for the shut down, and their predicted output for today will reflect the shut down period.
This week in Rotterdam EWEA held a technology workshop on the theme ‘Wind Power Forecasting: From R&D to Commercial Offering’, and yes, this was very relevant.
Speakers from TSO’s , Meteorology institutions and organisations, wind farm operators, software engineers and consultants presented their ideas on how accuracy and speed could be developed to improve future forecasting and how this could benefit the industry. From deep mathematics to the effects of icing high on turbine blades, all aspects of weather forecasting for the wind energy industry were presented debated and discussed.
The 2 day workshop which attracted speakers and delegates from all over Europe, and as far afield as the USA , Korea, and Mongolia was held in de Doelen halls in the centre of Rotterdam.
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Offshore WIND Staff, December 6, 2013; Image: navingo