WakeMap™ Validation in Offshore Netherlands

We’re excited to share another update on WakeMap validation in offshore Europe! This time, our focus is on the Borssele lidars deployed by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) in 2016.

As shown in the first figure produced by Ecofys, the lidars were strategically positioned about 12 km apart to measure wind deficits downstream of the Northwind wind farm and other nearby farms. Although the lidars were only operational from February to June 2016, this period was sufficient to accurately characterize mid- to long-range wake effects.

Running WakeMap over the same period, we compared the observed and WakeMap-modeled wind differences between the two lidars by sector. The second figure highlights strong deficits exceeding 1 m/s in the southwest, which WakeMap accurately captured. In the southeast, we observed a significant deficit despite the absence of upwind wind farms. This discrepancy is likely due to the varied coastal terrain of the Netherlands, a factor evidently not picked up by WakeMap’s underlying WRF model.

For wind directions with upwind turbines, the observed mean deficit was 1.03 m/s (10.8%), compared to a WakeMap-modeled mean deficit of 1.01 m/s (11.0%), accounting for the slightly lower mean winds modeled by WakeMap.

Overall, these are outstanding results, and further solidify WakeMap’s accuracy in offshore Netherlands and beyond.

🔗 Visit our new web interface to request your own WakeMap simulation, available at low cost and with next-day turnaround: https://earth.veer.eco