Structural instrumentation and monitoring of the Block Island Offshore Wind Farm

• Published in: Renewable energy 2023-01, Vol.202, p.1032-1045
• Main Authors: Hines, Eric M., Baxter, Christopher D.P., Ciochetto, David, Song, Mingming, Sparrevik, Per, Meland, Henrik J., Strout, James M., Bradshaw, Aaron, Hu, Sau-Lon, Basurto, Jorge R., Moaveni, Babak
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Block Island Wind Farm; Continuous monitoring system; Digital twins; Instrumentation design; Offshore wind turbines; Structural health monitoring
• ISSN: 0960-1481; 1879-0682
• DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2022.11.115

This work presents the design and installation of a continuous monitoring system for one of the offshore wind turbines in the Block Island Wind Farm, which is located 6.1 km off the coast of Block Island in Rhode Island, USA. The instrumentation plan includes wired and wireless accelerometers, strain gauges, and inclinometers. Considerations for the instrumentation design are discussed, including the type, number and location of sensors, as well as some of the challenges in the installation of sensors. The process of transferring data, samples of collected data, automated system identification and some preliminary results are presented. •Continuous structural monitoring system installed at the Block Island Wind Farm.•The Block Island Wind Farm is the first commercial offshore wind farm in the U.S.•The monitoring system was installed on an operational offshore wind turbine.•System identification is automated to assess one full year of data.•Monitoring enables structural performance assessment and fatigue life prediction.