With the launch of a large research barge, PNNL and collaborators took another significant step to improve offshore wind forecasting that will lower risk and cost associated with offshore wind energy development.
In a study off the West Coast, researchers find that although seabirds generally soar underneath the height of possible future wind turbine blades, more work is being done to fully understand seabird flight behavior.
The nation is closer to its offshore wind energy goals than ever before, but better wind forecasting is still needed. To address this challenge, PNNL and collaborators are charting a new course with help from novel technology.
PNNL has paired one of its offshore wind research buoys with its ThermalTracker-3D technology to correlate avian activity with ocean and weather conditions off the California coast.
