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WFIP-3 (2024 - 2026) - Active

WFIP-3: 3rd Wind Forecast Improvement Project

https://www.pnnl.gov/projects/wind-forecast-improvement-project-3

Project Overview

Offshore wind energy development in the United States is accelerating, with projects currently representing 40 gigawatts of proposed installed capacity. However, there are still substantial, unsolved challenges with forecasting winds and turbulence over the ocean.

To help overcome the challenges and help bring offshore wind energy to fruition, the Wind Forecast Improvement Project-3, or WFIP-3, is an 18-month offshore wind campaign that began in February 2024.

The study takes place in the northern third of the Mid-Atlantic Bight, the home to nine active wind energy lease areas. The Northeastern U.S. shelf is a relatively wide shelf bordered by the Gulf Stream offshore and New England to the north.

The Northeast U.S. outer continental shelf, with the lease areas under development and the proposed field study assets, along with existing, leveraged scientific monitoring efforts. (Image by Stephanie King, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
The Northeast U.S. outer continental shelf, with the lease areas under development and the proposed field study assets, along with existing, leveraged scientific monitoring efforts. (Image by Stephanie King, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

Funding

WFIP-3 is a Department of Energy’s Wind Energy Technologies Office funded project in collaboration with several research institutions. The federal component is led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as well as the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and the non-federal component is led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

Timeline of WFIP-3 project.
WFIP-3 project timeline. (Image by Shannon Colson | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
Clockwise from left: Fish-eye view of instrumentation, A group of men setting up the instruments, two men working on a tripod, a man standing next to field instruments.
Prepping for WFIP-3.

News

WFIP-3 extends data collection to offshore measurements using an instrumented barge with remote sensing instruments supplied by University of Notre Dame. 23 August 2024

Publications

Publications will be added as they become available.