The article Climate change: Extreme winds threaten offshore wind farms first appeared in the online magazine BASIC thinking. With our newsletter UPDATE you can start the day well informed every morning.
Extreme winds are pushing more than 40 percent of existing and planned offshore wind farms in Asia and Europe to their limits. This is shown by a current study from China.
A typhoon recently claimed many lives in the Philippines. “Kalmaegi” swept across the Southeast Asian island nation at speeds of up to 180 kilometers per hour.
While people are still struggling with the consequences, the next hurricane is already looming. “Fung-Wong” even threatens to develop into a super typhoon. These extreme weather events are a catastrophic demonstration of the climate crisis and are increasingly threatening the global energy transition.
Extreme winds threaten offshore wind farms
Wind energy is a key component of the global transition to renewable energy. Offshore wind farms in particular must be able to withstand harsh environments. They are built with different maximum wind speed design loads depending on their class.
Class III turbines are certified up to a limit of 135 kilometers per hour. Class II models are designed to withstand wind speeds of up to 153 kilometers per hour and the most stable version, Class I, can withstand speeds of up to 180 kilometers per hour.
However, one shows current study by researchers at China’s Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) that over 40 percent of existing and planned offshore wind farms in Europe and Asia are exposed to wind speeds that exceed the maximum design load of some classes of turbines.
Countries such as China, the Philippines, Japan and Vietnam are particularly affected, but also the United Kingdom, Turkey, Germany and other countries on the North and Baltic Seas.
The resilience of wind turbines
The resilience of wind turbines is determined by the fifty-year return period of wind speed (U50). This is a key parameter that defines the maximum wind speed that a turbine must withstand over 50 years.
Study author Yanan Zhao and colleagues analyzed hourly ERA5 wind speed data from the period between 1940 and 2023. They found that the load limit is being exceeded with increasing frequency. According to the analysis, extreme wind speeds increased in about 63 percent of oceanic coastal regions.
Climate change responsible for extreme winds
According to the researchers, the increase in extreme winds is not a random fluctuation, but a direct consequence of global climate change. They closely link the increase in wind speeds to the change in cyclonic activity of both tropical and extratropical cyclones.
In the affected wind farms, the turbines are therefore exposed to a double risk: they not only have to withstand the previous peak values, but also cope with the increasing intensity of future weather events.
This development puts the critical design measurement U50 to the test. If increasingly strong storms exceed the specified upper limits, there is a risk of premature material fatigue, more frequent shutdowns and ultimately higher maintenance costs or even the failure of expensive infrastructure.
This is how offshore wind farms withstand extreme winds
The results of the study show that wind energy infrastructure must adapt to the ever-changing climate. This is the only way to protect them from extreme winds in the future. This is accompanied by a wake-up call to politicians, wind farm operators and engineers.
They must first re-evaluate design standards and adapt turbine load limits to the increased extreme values so that future projects are designed from the outset with higher design loads for a longer service life.
In addition, optimizing the choice of location is crucial: through precise analyzes of regional wind trends, new wind farms should be planned primarily in areas with a lower increase in extreme winds.
At the same time, there is a need to invest in technological resilience through the use of more stable materials, smarter control systems and improved shutdown mechanisms. This means the systems can be protected even during extreme weather events.
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As a Tech Industry expert, I am deeply concerned about the impact of extreme winds on offshore wind farms. Climate change is causing more frequent and severe weather events, including powerful storms and hurricanes, which can pose a significant threat to the infrastructure of wind farms located in the open sea.
These extreme winds can damage the turbines, transmission lines, and other components of offshore wind farms, leading to costly repairs and downtime. In addition, the safety of workers on these installations is also at risk during extreme weather conditions.
It is crucial for the tech industry to invest in developing innovative solutions to protect offshore wind farms from the impact of climate change. This may include designing more resilient infrastructure, implementing advanced monitoring and predictive maintenance systems, and exploring new technologies such as floating wind turbines that can withstand extreme weather conditions.
Furthermore, collaboration between tech companies, renewable energy developers, and government agencies is essential to ensure the long-term viability and sustainability of offshore wind energy projects in the face of climate change. By working together, we can help mitigate the impact of extreme winds on offshore wind farms and continue to drive the transition to a cleaner, more sustainable energy future.
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