An overview of on-going activities for the development of products and services for the wind energy sector at Météo-France

Wind energy has become a significant component of the French electricity mix over the past decade currently representing around 10 % of national electricity consumption. This part is expected to significantly increase in the context of the national energy transition strategy with a target of 45 GW for offshore wind energy by 2050. Achieving these objectives requires improved understanding of the spatio-remporal variability of wind resources, assessment and improvement of current wind forecast capabilities, assistance in managing supply-demand balance and evaluating the impact of climate change on future wind resources. From research to operational product development, Météo-France actively contributes to these efforts through several activities. This poster aims at presenting an overview of current research activities and operational product development to assist the wind energy sector.

For offshore risk assessment, the contribution of Météo-France to climatological studies and analyses of wind Doppler measurements collected over 5 marine areas between 2020 and 2026 will be presented. Météo-France also contributes to a better understanding of the impact of wind farms on local meteorology. To that end, the Large-Eddy Simulation model Meso-NH has been coupled with a wind turbine model based on the Rotative Actuator Disk approach. The ability of this coupled model to capture wind turbine wake deficits and their interactions with complex meteorological conditions and terrain will be illustrated. These developments could lead in the future to improved wind forecasts within the convective-scale model AROME and, in the end, wind power production forecasts. In that sense, the Météo-France physically-based wind power production forecast model will be presented. Its ability to produce realistic wind power production estimations and how this tool can be improved will be discussed. More particularly, taking advantage of a user-oriented classification of the AROME ensemble forecasts in order to define main and secondary scenarii of electricity production will be presented.

In order to assist the wind energy sector clients in managing supply-demand balance, sub-hour variability of wind will be investigated (in the AROME model compared to wind observations) and Météo-France product to monitor wind energy shortage will be presented.

Finally, Météo-France coordinates the Cerra4Impact project, funded by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), with the aim of developing climate change indicators for wind energy based on regional climate projections at the supranational scale. The objectives of the project and future plans will be presented.