POUNDS, funded by Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) Supergen Offshore Renewable Energy Impact Hub, will be carried out in partnership with the UK’s leading Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) institutes, industry experts, and policymakers, including ORE Catapult, Arup, EDF, RWE, and The Crown Estate.
The project’s key aims include:
Assessing how offshore wind farms affect each other’s energy production, and the revenue implications of these impacts.
Helping to identify the best locations for future offshore wind farms to minimise these losses and ensure the UK’s renewable energy targets are met.
Validating modelled performance data against operational data.
Improving model accuracy in forecasting wind farm energy production.
As for its methodology, POUNDS will use state-of-the-art mesoscale models – a type of advanced numerical weather forecasting model – to model the performance of wind farms spanning UK waters at a resolution of 1 km. It will assess both the wind farms operational in 2023, and the thousands more wind turbines that are planned by 2030.
The analysis will evaluate accuracy of the model relative to real-world data and quantify the effects of inter-farm wakes on predicted energy yield. It will also capture wind-farm wakes and wind-farm performance in comparison to energy export grid data.
This combination of advanced modelling and collaboration with leading stakeholders is designed to support delivery of the UK’s target to become NetZero by 2050.
Ken Kasriel, Energy Economist with Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, said: "The UK Government's recentClean Power 2030 Action Plan's identification of inter-farm wind wakes as an area of focus highlights this issue's importance. This study could make important contributions towards better understanding and planning around them."
Dr Steven Downie, Wind Skills Leader, UKIMEA, Arup, added: "As the UK continues to expand its offshore wind capacity, balancing the need for security and affordability of supply is becoming increasingly complex. To ensure a just transition, which balances private and public interests, it is critical that we take a collaborative approach to advance our scientific understanding of inter-farm wakes and our ability to quantify the impacts."
By modelling the interactions between wind farms more precisely, the team hopes to provide better guidance for developers and policymakers, reduce investment risks, and resolve conflicts between wind farm operators.
POUNDS could ensure that both the UK’s offshore wind expansion, and 2030 target, remain on track.
The project POUNDS will be officially launched at the8th EPSRC ORE Impact Hub Annual Assembly, which will be held at The University of Manchester on 15th April 2025 and is open to academic colleagues.
Further information on the Supergen ORE Impact hub is availablehere.