On the influence of large wind farms on the upper ocean circulation

Large wind farms exert a significant disturbance on the wind speed in the vicinity of the installation and in this study we outline the oceanic response to the wind wake from a large wind farm placed in the ocean. We find that the size of the wind wake is an important factor for the oceanic response to the wind farm. We show through simple analytical models and idealized numerical experiments that a wind speed of 5-10 m/s may generate upwelling/downwelling velocities exceeding 1 m/day if the characteristic width of the wind wake is of the same size or larger than the internal radius of deformation. The generated upwelling is sufficiently enough that the local ecosystem will most likely be strongly influenced by the presence of a wind farm. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.