Wind Farm Wakes Simulated Using WRF
Optimization of wind turbine (WT) arrays to maximize system-wide power production (i.e. minimize ‘wind-theft’)and minimize impacts on the local environment requires high-fidelity simulations of array-array interactions at the regional scale. Our analyses provide key guidance on how to conduct and evaluate such simulations.
No definitive statement can yet be made about which wind farm parameterization (Fitch or EWP) available for use in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is more accurate. However, differences in the efficiency of electricity production and near-surface climate perturbations are substantial (i.e. a factor of 2 in local temperature perturbations - warming of coldest hours).
We present new year-long simulations for a nested domain centered on Iowa (state with highest WT density) in the US Midwest that employ real WT characteristics and locations.