Characterizing Impacts of Atmospheric Turbulence on Wind Farms Through Large Eddy Simulation (LES)

Wind farms extract energy from the lowest part of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). Thus, characterizing the impacts of atmospheric turbulence — precisely, which aspect of it enhances or hinders the capacity factor of wind farms — is currently the least understood and the most demanding topic of wind energy research. This article demonstrates a Large Eddy Simulation (LES) of atmospheric turbulence around an array of 41 full-scale wind turbines with a rotor diameter of 126 m. A wall-adaptive subgrid-scale (SGS) model for atmospheric turbulence around wind farms has been examined. For a moist-free atmosphere in the afternoon, the spectra of kinetic energy are compared with Kolmogorov’s energy spectrum. The power production is discussed with respect to staggered arrangements of turbines. Results show that the LES model has the potential to account for atmospheric turbulence for optimizing tower placements in wind farms.