Offshore Wind Modeling Team
The RUCOOL Offshore Wind Modeling team develops and advances the science that informs decision-making around offshore wind, both at a state and national level. We do this through research using both observations and models, and extensive engagement with stakeholders on the issues important to this new industry.
The Offshore Wind Industry
As of summer 2026, the development of offshore wind in the Mid-Atlantic is focused on areas southwest of Martha’s Vineyard, MA, and off Virginia. It’s important to understand how the construction of large offshore wind farms will interact with the existing ocean environment. This includes a thorough understanding of the offshore wind resource, which is strongly influenced by the underlying ocean. How might wind turbines change the wind-driven ocean mixing, key to the setup and breakdown of the Mid-Atlantic Cold Pool? Perhaps most importantly, it’s vital that the offshore wind industry succeeds while protecting existing ocean uses, including the fishing industry, and endangered species such as the North Atlantic Right Whale.
RUCOOL Contributions
Since 2011, RUCOOL has worked with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) on observing and modeling of NJ’s coastal wind resource. This includes our Coastal Metocean Monitoring Station, located adjacent to the Rutgers University Marine Field Station (RUMFS), one of the best equipped field sites along the entire Mid-Atlantic Coast.
RUCOOL also collaborates with wind energy developers, including Ørsted Revolution and Sunrise Wind, on projects to better understand and protect our offshore environment. RUCOOL is helping to mitigate interference with cod spawning in the OSW development areas south of Martha’s Vineyard.
RUCOOL is part of the Rutgers Offshore Wind Energy Collaborative which is a university wide community of faculty and researchers work on all facets of offshore wind energy.