Hurricane Risk to Offshore Wind Turbines Along the U.S. Coast
Stephen Rose, Paulina Jaramillo, Mitchell J. Small, Iris Grossmann, and Jay Apt
Abstract:
This paper applies the method developed by Rose, et al. to create a map of the
hurricane risk to offshore wind farms along the Atlantic coast and Gulf coast of
the U.S. The risk to offshore wind farms is lowest along the coast of
Mid-Atlantic and New England regions. There is less than a 10% probability in
those regions that hurricanes destroy more than 10% of a wind farm in 20 years
in most counties. The risk to offshore wind farms is highest for counties along
the Gulf of Mexico, in South Florida, and near Cape Hatteras, NC. There is
greater than a 30% probability in those regions that hurricanes will destroy
more than 10% of a wind farm in 20 years. The hurricane risk to offshore wind
farms can be significantly decreased by adding backup power to ensure the
turbines are able to rapidly yaw to point directly into the wind even when grid
power has been lost.
