An operational forecast system for wind conditions in the Portuguese pilot area of Agu?adoura

摘要

An operational system has been implemented to forecast the wind power resources off the coast of Portugal. The system is based on the mesoscale model WRF and runs twice a day out to 4 days ahead, producing high resolution winds on a domain that covers the Iberian coast and part of the Atlantic Ocean. The model is configured to dynamically downscale the GFS numerical predictions from f to 1/6-degree of horizontal resolution using nested domains. Additionally using a nest-down modeling approach, the system is configured to produce high resolution wind forecasts with 4 km grid spacing for the Agu?adoura site in the North coast of Portugal. The model's performance under different grid resolutions is investigated as its suitability to produce realist offshore wind climatologies within the study area. Ultimately, wind power maps show high amounts of energy available for extraction confirming that the area is potentially well-suited for wind energy development.