MERIDIONAL: Towards a fuller understanding of the wind and its effects on wind power generation.

The new Horizon Europe project MERIDIONAL brings together a consortium of eleven European partners led by Delft University of Technology with the aim to develop a tool chain to increase accuracy in energy yield assessment and loads for both wind turbines and airborne wind energy systems.
The wind industry lacks the tools to assess the impact of site-specific, dynamic wind inflow on wind plant performance and loads suitable for both surface and airborne applications. Moreover, the nascent airborne wind industry needs guidance on the most important parameters to determine device performance and loads. Moreover, industry and academia need tools that facilitate the use of open access datasets for calculating site specific loads and performance.
MERIDIONAL stands for “multiscale modelling for wind farm design, performance assessment and loading”. The project was kicked-off at a meeting in Delft on November 23-24. Over the next four years, the partners will work on a comprehensively validated framework based on an open-source platform which will draw on an integrated knowledge and data hub to allow the efficient and accurate assessment of the performance and loads experienced by onshore, offshore, and airborne wind energy systems.
Model validation will be supported by a range of high quality and unique datasets drawing on high fidelity simulations, kite-borne measurements, lidar, drone and mast measurements from field test campaigns in complex terrain, offshore and airborne. MERIDIONAL will allow stakeholders to increase wind plant efficiency and reduce material costs through less conservative design.