Larger wind turbines as a solution to reduce environmental impacts

Abstract

The EU aims for carbon neutrality by 2050, focusing on offshore wind energy. Investments in North Sea wind farms, with optimal wind resources, play a crucial role. We employed a high-resolution regional climate model, which incorporates a wind farm parametrization, to investigate and address potential mitigating impacts of large wind farms on power generation and air-sea fluxes. Specifically, we examined the effects of replacing 5 MW turbines with larger 15 MW turbines while maintaining total capacity. Our study found that substituting 15 MW turbines increases the capacity factor by 2–3%, enhancing efficiency. However, these turbines exhibit a slightly smaller impact on 10 m wind speed (1.2–1.5%) and near-surface kinetic energy (0.1–0.2%), leading to reduced effects on sea surface heat fluxes compared to 5 MW turbines. This was confirmed by a stronger reduction in net heat flux of about 0.6–1.3% in simulations with 5 MW compared to 15 MW wind turbines. Air-sea fluxes influence ocean dynamics and marine ecosystems; therefore, minimizing these impacts is crucial. Overall, deploying 15 MW turbines in offshore wind farms may offer advantages for ocean dynamics and marine ecosystems, supporting the EU's carbon–neutral objectives.