The impact of operating wind farms in the wave and wind stress field over the North Sea

Type of project

M.Sc.

Contact

Jianting Du (jndu@dhigroup.com)

Topic

As a key renewable energy source, wind energy is crucial for mitigating climate change and supporting the transition to a sustainable energy future. Offshore wind capacity has been steadily growing in recent years and is expected to expand significantly in the coming decades.

This thesis will investigate how large-scale wind farms influence the surrounding wave field through two key mechanisms: wake effects, where wind turbines reduce wind speeds and turbulence, affecting wave generation, and scattering effects, where turbine monopiles disrupt incoming waves. Additionally, the study will explore how wave conditions, in turn, impact near-surface wind stress and sea surface wind field.

The research focuses on improving numerical modeling approaches to accurately capture these complex air-sea interactions, providing valuable insights for offshore wind energy planning and policy making.

Relevance to DHI

This thesis is closely aligned with DHI’s involvement in the ongoing EU Horizon projects “Federated Digital Twins for Wind-Offshore” and “Multiscale Modelling of European Wind Energy Wake Effects,” which focus on air-sea interactions in offshore wind farms. Enhancing the performance and capabilities of MIKE 21 SW for offshore wind energy applications.

What is the student's contribution

1) Conduct a literature review on wave and wind stress modeling in the presence of offshore wind turbines.

2) Compare and validate different algorithms/methods for wave and wind stress calculations within MIKE 21 SW under selected scenarios.

3) Perform numerical experiments using MIKE 21 SW to assess the impact of wind farms on wave and wind stress fields, considering both wake and scattering effects of wind turbines.