scholarly journals Time-Dependent Upper Limits to the Performance of Large Wind Farms Due to Mesoscale Atmospheric Response

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (19) ◽  
pp. 6437
Author(s):  
Kelan Patel ◽  
Thomas D. Dunstan ◽  
Takafumi Nishino
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Time Dependent ◽  
New Method ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Upper Limits ◽  
Large Wind

A prototype of a new physics-based wind resource assessment method is presented, which allows the prediction of upper limits to the performance of large wind farms (including the power loss due to wind farm blockage) in a site-specific and time-dependent manner. The new method combines the two-scale momentum theory with a numerical weather prediction (NWP) model to assess the “extractability” of wind, i.e., how high the wind speed at a given site can be maintained as we increase the number of turbines installed. The new method is applied to an offshore wind farm site in the North Sea to demonstrate that: (1) Only a pair of NWP simulations (one without wind farm and the other with wind farm with an arbitrary level of flow resistance) are required to predict the extractability. (2) The extractability varies significantly from time to time, which may cause more than 30% of change in the upper limit of the performance of medium-to-high-density offshore wind farms. These results suggest the importance of considering not only the natural wind speed but also its extractability in the prediction of (both long- and short-term) power production of large wind farms.

scholarly journals Applications of satellite winds for the offshore wind farm site Anholt

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 573-588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Ahsbahs ◽  
Merete Badger ◽  
Patrick Volker ◽  
Kurt S. Hansen ◽  
Charlotte B. Hasager
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Wind Energy ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Horizontal Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Energy ◽  
Site Assessment ◽  
Scada System

Abstract. Rapid growth in the offshore wind energy sector means more offshore wind farms are placed closer to each other and in the lee of large land masses. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) offers maps of the wind speed offshore with high resolution over large areas. These can be used to detect horizontal wind speed gradients close to shore and wind farm wake effects. SAR observations have become much more available with the free and open-access data from European satellite missions through Copernicus. Examples of applications and tools for using large archives of SAR wind maps to aid offshore site assessment are few. The Anholt wind farm operated by the utility company Ørsted is located in coastal waters and experiences strong spatial variations in the mean wind speed. Wind speeds derived from the Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) system are available at the turbine locations for comparison with winds retrieved from SAR. The correlation is good, both for free-stream and waked conditions. Spatial wind speed variations along the rows of wind turbines derived from SAR wind maps prior to the wind farm construction agree well with information gathered by the SCADA system and a numerical weather prediction model. Wind farm wakes are detected by comparisons between images before and after the wind farm construction. SAR wind maps clearly show wakes for long and constant fetches but the wake effect is less pronounced for short and varying fetches. Our results suggest that SAR wind maps can support offshore wind energy site assessment by introducing observations in the early phases of wind farm projects.

Geometry-Based Models for Studying the Effects of Wind Farm Layout

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 481-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niranjan S. Ghaisas ◽  
Cristina L. Archer
Keyword(s):  
Wind Farm ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Orientation Angle ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Wind Farm Layout ◽  
Prevailing Wind Direction ◽  
Wake Effects ◽  
Well Correlation ◽  
Large Wind

AbstractLayout studies are critical in designing large wind farms, since wake effects can lead to significant reductions in power generation. Optimizing wind farm layout using computational fluid dynamics is practically unfeasible today because of their enormous computational requirements. Simple statistical models, based on geometric quantities associated with the wind farm layout, are therefore attractive because they are less demanding computationally. Results of large-eddy simulations of the Lillgrund (Sweden) offshore wind farm are used here to calibrate such geometry-based models. Several geometric quantities (e.g., blockage ratio, defined as the fraction of the swept area of a wind turbine that is blocked by upstream turbines) and their linear combinations are found to correlate very well (correlation coefficient of ~0.95) with the power generated by the turbines. Linear models based on these geometric quantities are accurate at predicting the farm-averaged power and are therefore used here to study layout effects in large wind farms. The layout parameters that are considered include angle between rows and columns, angle between incoming wind and columns (orientation), turbine spacings, and staggering of alternate rows. Each can impact wind power production positively or negatively, and their interplay is complex. The orientation angle is the most critical parameter influencing wake losses, as small changes in it can cause sharp variations in power. In general, for a prevailing wind direction, the orientation angle should be small (7.5°–20°) but not zero; staggering and spacing are beneficial; and nonorthogonal layouts may outperform orthogonal ones. This study demonstrates the utility of simple, inexpensive, and reasonably accurate geometry-based models to identify general principles governing optimal wind farm layout.

scholarly journals Local and Mesoscale Impacts of Wind Farms as Parameterized in a Mesoscale NWP Model

2012 ◽  
Vol 140 (9) ◽  
pp. 3017-3038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna C. Fitch ◽  
Joseph B. Olson ◽  
Julie K. Lundquist ◽  
Jimy Dudhia ◽  
Alok K. Gupta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Thrust Coefficient ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Neutral Boundary Layer

Abstract A new wind farm parameterization has been developed for the mesoscale numerical weather prediction model, the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF). The effects of wind turbines are represented by imposing a momentum sink on the mean flow; transferring kinetic energy into electricity and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE). The parameterization improves upon previous models, basing the atmospheric drag of turbines on the thrust coefficient of a modern commercial turbine. In addition, the source of TKE varies with wind speed, reflecting the amount of energy extracted from the atmosphere by the turbines that does not produce electrical energy. Analyses of idealized simulations of a large offshore wind farm are presented to highlight the perturbation induced by the wind farm and its interaction with the atmospheric boundary layer (BL). A wind speed deficit extended throughout the depth of the neutral boundary layer, above and downstream from the farm, with a long wake of 60-km e-folding distance. Within the farm the wind speed deficit reached a maximum reduction of 16%. A maximum increase of TKE, by nearly a factor of 7, was located within the farm. The increase in TKE extended to the top of the BL above the farm due to vertical transport and wind shear, significantly enhancing turbulent momentum fluxes. The TKE increased by a factor of 2 near the surface within the farm. Near-surface winds accelerated by up to 11%. These results are consistent with the few results available from observations and large-eddy simulations, indicating this parameterization provides a reasonable means of exploring potential downwind impacts of large wind farms.

scholarly journals Recovery processes in a large offshore wind farm

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 1089-1106
Author(s):  
Tanvi Gupta ◽  
Somnath Baidya Roy
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
High Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Farm ◽  
High Wind Speed ◽  
Recovery Processes ◽  
Speed Range

Abstract. Wind turbines in a wind farm extract energy from the atmospheric flow and convert it into electricity, resulting in a localized momentum deficit in the wake that reduces energy availability for downwind turbines. Atmospheric momentum convergence from above, below, and the sides into the wakes replenishes the lost momentum, at least partially, so that turbines deep inside a wind farm can continue to function. In this study, we explore recovery processes in a hypothetical offshore wind farm with particular emphasis on comparing the spatial patterns and magnitudes of horizontal- and vertical-recovery processes and understanding the role of mesoscale processes in momentum recovery in wind farms. For this purpose, we use the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, a state-of-the-art mesoscale model equipped with a wind turbine parameterization, to simulate a hypothetical large offshore wind farm with different wind turbine spacings under realistic initial and boundary conditions. Different inter-turbine spacings range from a densely packed wind farm (case I: low inter-turbine distance of 0.5 km ∼ 5 rotor diameter) to a sparsely packed wind farm (case III: high inter-turbine distance of 2 km ∼ 20 rotor diameter). In this study, apart from the inter-turbine spacings, we also explored the role of different ranges of background wind speeds over which the wind turbines operate, ranging from a low wind speed range of 3–11.75 m s−1 (case A) to a high wind speed range of 11–18 m s−1 (case C). Results show that vertical turbulent transport of momentum from aloft is the main contributor to recovery in wind farms except in cases with high-wind-speed range and sparsely packed wind farms, where horizontal advective momentum transport can also contribute equally. Vertical recovery shows a systematic dependence on wind speed and wind farm density that is quantified using low-order empirical equations. Wind farms significantly alter the mesoscale flow patterns, especially for densely packed wind farms under high-wind-speed conditions. In these cases, the mesoscale circulations created by the wind farms can transport high-momentum air from aloft into the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) and thus aid in recovery in wind farms. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first studies to look at wind farm replenishment processes under realistic meteorological conditions including the role of mesoscale processes. Overall, this study advances our understanding of recovery processes in wind farms and wind farm–ABL interactions.

Offshore wind farm far field - Results of the project WIPAFF

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Platis ◽  
Jens Bange ◽  
Konrad Bärfuss ◽  
Beatriz Canadillas ◽  
Marie Hundhausen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Order Approximation ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
In Situ Measurements ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Stable Conditions ◽  
Wind Park ◽  
Meso Scale

<p>Wind farm far wakes are of particular interest for offshore installations, as turbulence intensity, which is the main driver for wake dissipation, is much lower over the ocean than over land. Therefore, wakes behind offshore wind turbines and wind parks are expected to be much longer than behind onshore parks. </p><p>In situ measurements of the far wakes were missing before the initiation of the research project WIPAFF (WInd PArk Far Fields) in 2015. The main results of which are reported here. WIPAFF has been funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and ran from November 2015 to April 2019.  The main goal of WIPAFF was to perform a large number of in situ measurements from aircraft operations at hub height behind wind parks in the German Bight (North Sea), to evaluate further SAR images and to update and validate existing meso-scale and industrial models on the basis of the observations to enable a holistic coverage of the downstream wakes.<br> <br>A  unique  dataset  from  airborne in situ data,  remote sensing  by  laser  scanner  and  SAR  gained  during  the WIPAFF  project  proves  that  wakes  up to  several  tens of kilometers exist downstream of offshore wind farms during stable conditions, while under neutral/unstable conditions, the wake length amounts to 15 km or less. Turbulence occurs at the lateral boundaries of the wakes, due to shear between the reduced wind speed inside the wake and the undisturbed flow. Data also indicates that a denser wind park layout increases the wake length additionally due to a higher initial wind speed deficit. The recovery of the decelerated flow in the wake can be modeled as a first order approximation by an exponential function. The project could also reveal that wind-farm parameterizations in the numerical meso-scale WRF model show a feasible agreement with the observations. </p>

Layout optimization for a large offshore wind farm using Genetic Algorithm

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Narender Reddy ◽  
S Baidya Roy
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Algorithm ◽  
Wind Energy ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Layout Optimization ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Previous Generation ◽  
Large Wind

<p>Wind Farm Layout Optimization Problem (WFLOP) is an important issue to be addressed when installing a large wind farm. Many studies have focused on the WFLOP but only for a limited number of turbines (10 – 100 turbines) and idealized wind speed distributions. In this study, we apply the Genetic Algorithm (GA) to solve the WFLOP for large wind farms using real wind data.</p><p>The study site is the Palk Strait located between India and Sri Lanka. This site is considered to be one of the two potential hotspots of offshore wind in India. An interesting feature of the site is that the winds here are dominated by two major monsoons: southwesterly summer monsoon (June-September) and northeasterly winter monsoon (November to January). As a consequence, the wind directions do not drastically change, unlike other sites which can have winds distributed over 360<sup>o</sup>. This allowed us to design a wind farm with a 5D X 3D spacing, where 5D is in the dominant wind direction and 3D is in the transverse direction (D- rotor diameter of the turbine - 150 m in this study).</p><p>Jensen wake model is used to calculate the wake losses. The optimization of the layout using GA involves building a population of layouts at each generation. This population consists of, the best layouts of the previous generation, crossovers or offspring from the best layouts of the previous generation and few mutated layouts. The best layout at each generation is assessed using the fitness or objective functions that consist of annual power production by the layout, cost incurred by layout per unit power produced, and the efficiency of the layout. GA mimics the natural selection process observed in nature, which can be summarised as survival of the fittest. At each generation, the layouts performing the best would enter the next generation where a new population is created from the best performing layouts.</p><p>GA is used to produce 3 different optimal layouts as described below. Results show that:</p><p>A ~5GW layout – has 738 turbines, producing 2.37 GW of power at an efficiency of 0.79</p><p>Layout along the coast – has 1091 turbines, producing 3.665 GW of power at an efficiency of 0.82.</p><p>Layout for the total area – has 2612 turbines, producing 7.82 GW of power at an efficiency of 0.74.</p><p>Thus, placing the turbines along the coast is more efficient as it makes the maximum use of the available wind energy and it would be cost-effective as well by placing the turbines closer to the shores.</p><p>Wind energy is growing at an unprecedented rate in India. Easily accessible terrestrial resources are almost saturated and offshore is the new frontier. This study can play an important role in the offshore expansion of renewables in India.</p>

scholarly journals Observed and simulated turbulent kinetic energy (WRF 3.8.1) overlarge offshore wind farms

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon K. Siedersleben ◽  
Andreas Platis ◽  
Julie K. Lundquist ◽  
Bughsin Djath ◽  
Astrid Lampert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Vertical Resolution ◽  
Offshore Wind Farms ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Simulated Wind

Abstract. Because wind farms affect local weather and microclimates, parameterizations of their effects have been developed for numerical weather prediction models. While most wind farm parameterizations (WFP) include drag effects of wind farms, models differ on whether or not an additional turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) source should be included in these parameterizations to simulate the impact of wind farms on the boundary layer. Therefore, we use aircraft measurements above large offshore wind farms in stable conditions to evaluate WFP choices. Of the three case studies we examine, we find the simulated ambient background flow to agree with observations of temperature stratification and winds. This agreement allowing us to explore the sensitivity of simulated wind farm effects with respect to modeling choices such as whether or not to include a TKE source, horizontal resolution, vertical resolution, and advection of TKE. For a stably stratified marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL), a TKE source and a horizontal resolution in the order of 5 km or finer are necessary to represent the impact of offshore wind farms on the MABL. Additionally, TKE advection results in excessively reduced TKE over the wind farms, which in turn causes an underestimation of the wind speed above the wind farm. Furthermore, using fine vertical resolution increases the agreement of the simulated wind speed with satellite observations of surface wind speed.

Operation and Simulation of Hybrid Wind and Gas Turbine Power System Employing Wind Power Forecasting

2012 ◽  
Vol 134 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Junrong Xia ◽  
Pan Zhao ◽  
Yiping Dai
Keyword(s):  
Power System ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Wind Power ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Hybrid Power System ◽  
Hybrid Power ◽  
Large Wind ◽  
Operation Scheduling

Due to the intermittence and fluctuation of wind resource, the integration of large wind farms in a power grid always brings challenges to maintain the stability of a power system. Integrating gas turbine units with wind farms can compensate for their output fluctuation. A methodology for the operation scheduling of a hybrid power system that consists of a large wind farm and gas turbine units is presented. A statistical model based on numerical weather prediction is used to forecast power output of the wind farm. Forecasts of wind power are used for optimizing the operation scheduling. Dynamic modeling of this hybrid power system is addressed. Simulation studies are carried out to evaluate the system performance using real weather data. The simulation results show that the proposed hybrid power system can compensate fluctuating wind power effectively and make wind power more reliable.

Optimization of Large Wind Farms Using a Genetic Algorithm

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anshul Mittal ◽  
Lafayette K. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Algorithm ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Wind Direction ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Unit Power ◽  
Wake Model ◽  
Variable Wind ◽  
Large Wind

Optimizing the placement of the wind turbines in a wind farm to achieve optimal performance is an active area of research, with numerous research studies being published every year. Typically, the area available for the wind farm is divided into cells (a cell may/may not contain a wind turbine) and an optimization algorithm is used. In this study, the effect of the cell size on the optimal layout is being investigated by reducing it from five rotor diameter (previous studies) to 1/40 rotor diameter (present study). A code is developed for optimizing the placement of wind turbines in large wind farms. The objective is to minimize the cost per unit power produced from the wind farm. A genetic algorithm is employed for the optimization. The velocity deficits in the wake of the wind turbines are estimated using a simple wake model. The code is verified using the results from the previous studies. Results are obtained for three different wind regimes: (1) Constant wind speed and fixed wind direction, (2) constant wind speed and variable wind direction, and (3) variable wind speed and variable wind direction. Cost per unit power is reduced by 11.7% for Case 1, 11.8% for Case 2, and 15.9% for Case 3 for results obtained in this study. The advantages/benefits of a refined grid spacing of 1/40 rotor diameter (1 m) are evident and are discussed. To get an understanding of the sensitivity of the power produced to the wake model, optimized layout is obtained for the Case 1 using a different wake model.

scholarly journals An intercomparison of mesoscale models at simple sites for wind energy applications

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 211-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bjarke T. Olsen ◽  
Andrea N. Hahmann ◽  
Anna Maria Sempreviva ◽  
Jake Badger ◽  
Hans E. Jørgensen
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Wind Energy ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Atmospheric Stability ◽  
Resource Assessment ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Grid Spacing ◽  
Energy Applications ◽  
Wind Resource

Abstract. Understanding uncertainties in wind resource assessment associated with the use of the output from numerical weather prediction (NWP) models is important for wind energy applications. A better understanding of the sources of error reduces risk and lowers costs. Here, an intercomparison of the output from 25 NWP models is presented for three sites in northern Europe characterized by simple terrain. The models are evaluated using a number of statistical properties relevant to wind energy and verified with observations. On average the models have small wind speed biases offshore and aloft (< 4 %) and larger biases closer to the surface over land (> 7 %). A similar pattern is detected for the inter-model spread. Strongly stable and strongly unstable atmospheric stability conditions are associated with larger wind speed errors. Strong indications are found that using a grid spacing larger than 3 km decreases the accuracy of the models, but we found no evidence that using a grid spacing smaller than 3 km is necessary for these simple sites. Applying the models to a simple wind energy offshore wind farm highlights the importance of capturing the correct distributions of wind speed and direction.

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