A new IEA Wind Task

An international R&D challenge

How can offshore wind energy systems remain reliable and bankable in regions exposed to tropical cyclones and other extreme weather events?

Capturing the interactions between wind energy systems and extreme weather conditions raises exciting scientific challenges with high impact for the future of offshore wind. These events involve strong multi-physics coupling between the ocean surface and the atmosphere, and interactions across multiple scales — from synoptic storm structures down to turbine-scale turbulence. Climate change further amplifies the challenge by altering the frequency, tracks and intensity of extreme weather events.

At the same time, wind energy systems are evolving rapidly:

• Turbine capacities are heading toward 20+ MW by 2030;
• Floating offshore wind technologies are unlocking deeper waters;
• Structural response, turbine–foundation coupling and whole-system behaviour under extreme conditions have become critical research topics.

Extreme weather conditions and turbines design

France Energies Marines will propose a new IEA Wind task dedicated to extreme weather conditions and offshore wind turbines design. We are looking for motivated scientists and experts to contribute.

Potential research areas include:

• Open source metocean reference databases for extreme weather;
• Wind & wave numerical modelling at synoptic and regional scales;
• Wind and waves interactions with turbines and farms;
• Climate change impacts on extreme weather statistics;
• Statistical methods for extreme events;
• Loads and structural response of wind turbines under extreme conditions.

How to join this technical task?

If you are interested in contributing to this collaborative, high-impact effort, we would be delighted to hear from you. Do not hesitate to contact Jean‑François Filipot, scientific director of France Energies Marines, who will lead this task.

Contact

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