AIRE’s main objective is to understand the atmospheric flow in low, medium and high altitudes in the whole operation range from mesoscale level to wind turbine, wind farm and blade levels, correlating wind to other climatic events and to create a toolbox to satisfy the industrial needs to reduce economic uncertainties, LCOE and increase durability.
Context
To meet the European decarbonization commitments the installed wind power by 2050 should reach 1000GW from both onshore and offshore technologies. To achieve this objective wind turbine manufacturers and wind farm developers will have to use larger wind turbines installed at challenging sites and novel geographical regions. In addition, the turbines and wind farms will need to operate at more challenging climatic conditions.
The AIRE project contributes to achieve this objective by exploring the wind resource at different altitudes and site typologies (onshore-offshore-flat-complex terrain) and enlarge the study including precipitation and sand particles present in the air. With this information the existing models and tools will be improved, and new ones will be developed.
Overall objectives
The overall objectives of the project are:
Open-access knowledge hub of experimental data: data are being collected in 7 sites in the AIRE project. The AIRE sites cover different altitudes, terrain complexities and wind turbine characteristics. Commercial and experimental wind farms are studied. Regarding the climatic conditions, the AIRE sites encompass sites with high precipitation rates and with high levels of particles present in the air.
Develop numerical models. The AIRE project evaluates how wind flows alter power production through 5 complex models for mesoscale meteorology, wake development on wind farms, blade damage, airfoil performance and precipitation impingement.
Tools to be rapidly absorbed by the industrial sector. The project develops a set of tools that can be useful for the industry: an erosion risk atlas, wind farm operation and control, a wind turbine annual production and loads prediction, and an erosion safe mode operation. The tools development is guided by the industrial partners of AIRE consortium.
Toolbox application to case studies. The climate conditions impact on wind energy is explored in 5 sites, where several tests are performed to assess the applicability of AIRE tools to optimize performance and reduce operation and maintenance costs.
New blade designs Design of solutions to produce more efficient and durable wind turbine blades that are optimal for operation in real-world atmospheric conditions. Resistant materials to extreme weather conditions will be evaluated to improve wind turbine performance and reducing costs due to unforeseen reparations.
Project Pathway to impact
AIRE project will improve the understanding of atmospheric flow physics, particularly regarding wind power production forecasting and the design of wind energy technology components. The project will also support improved wind farm design, location choice, distribution and operation bridging the gap between small-scale controlled experiments and full-scale deployment. In addition, the project will contribute to enhance system reliability and power production by improving and designing models that account for wind, precipitation and sand, and site location and altitude. The main impacts are: 1. Decrease economic uncertainties related to farm design and power production, as well as wind technology components design and durability. 2. Lead development of numerical models capable of accurately forecasting high wind flow and power production. 3. Improve wakes modelling and the integration of models with real condition wind farm data. 4. Use open access of Big Data storage and usage for the testing and performance tracking of the numeric models
