Does Prominent Coastal Upwelling along New Jersey Lead to Increases in Offshore Wind Turbine Power Production?

Large offshore wind turbines are planned for construction off the New Jersey coastline to aid in the state's transition towards more renewable energy and decrease their dependence on fossil fuels. To facilitate this transition, it is important to have accurate estimates of how much power these turbines will generate. From an oceanographic perspective, New Jersey is a relatively unique wind farm location in that it frequently experiences the phenomenon known as coastal upwelling. Upwelling, which brings colder water from depth to the surface, is a result of persistent southwesterly winds along New Jersey's coastline in the summer months. Coastal upwelling can occur along any coast with an alongshore wind, however large temperature shifts (2 to 3°C) are a defining characteristic of upwelling in the Mid-Atlantic Bight due to the presence of the subsurface cold pool. To investigate the effects of upwelling, wind speed data at various altitudes from a floating LiDAR buoy (Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Buoy 4) were examined across the upwelling season to understand the atmospheric and oceanic conditions within the Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Lease Area. Daily images of sea surface temperature from the A VHRR satellite were used to determine which days in the chosen timeframe experienced large sea surface temperature shifts associated with coastal upwelling. In total, this methodology yielded a total of 39 upwelling days (43.8
^%
) and 50 non-upwelling days (56.2 %). To investigate the relationship between upwelling and power generation, this study compared the power production estimates between the upwelling and non-upwelling days. Power estimates were made using the power curve for a 15 MW wind turbine. The results of the independent sample t-tests revealed that wind speeds and power production estimations were significantly greater at all times of day during upwelling conditions (P < 0.05 for all comparisons). There is a need to examine the effects of the oceanic conditions on wind characteristics because the ocean and atmosphere interact dynamically. The results of this analysis are novel in the aspect that few (if any) studies have looked at the effects of upwelling on wind characteristics in the context of power generation.