OPERATIONAL MODEL FOR DESIGN OF OPTIMAL WIND FARM ARRAYS

WIND FARM DESIGNERS REQUIRE AN OPERATIONAL TOOL TO DESIGN OPTIMAL WIND FARMS ON SITES WITH IRREGULAR TERRAIN AND NONUNIFORM WIND FLOWS. SUCH SITES WILL BE MORE IMPORTANT ASTHE WIND FARM DENSITY INCREASE IN THE MOST WINDY AREAS, FLAT SITES BECOME UNAVAILABLE, AND REDUCED TAX CREDITS MAKE CAREFUL MANAGEMENT OF ENERGY PRODUCTION CRITICAL TO ECONOMICVIABILITY. THE DESIGN TOOL PROPOSED INCORPORATES WIND DATA EXTRAPOLATION TECHNIQUES FOR PREDICTION OF THE SPATIAL WIND CHARACTERISTICS AND EN EXTENSION OF AEROVIRONMENT'S ARRAY INTERFERENCE MODEL TO HANDLE IRREGULAR TERRAIN, NONUNIFORM WINDS AND A VARIETY OF TURBINE TYPES. THE TOOL WILL BE AVAILABLE TO WIND FARM PLANNERS AND CONSIST OF A PROGRAM CAPABLE OF RUNNING ON IBM COMPATIBLE MICRO-COMPUTERS. PHASEI WILL INVOLVE THE TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT OF WIND FIELD EXTRAPOLATION TECHNIQUES AND THE ARRAY INTERFERENCE MODEL FOR TOPOGRAPHIC AND METEROLIGICAL NONUNIFORMITIES. PHASE IIINVOLVES THE VALIDATION OF THE TECHNICAL MODELS USING EXISTING DATA, AND THE INCORPORATION OF THE ASSOCIATED ALGORITHMS INTO A COMPREHENSIVE USER-FRIENDLY CODE. THE METEOROLOGICAL EXTRAPOLATION WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED BY DEBELOPING A SIMPLIFIED TERRAIN MODEL INVOLVING A MICROSCALE WIND PERTURBATION (ASSOCIATED WITH TERRAIN FEATURES AT 100 M SCALE) SUPERPOSED ON A MACROSCALE WIND GRADIENT MODEL (TERRAIN FEATURE AT 10 KM SCALE). THIS MODEL WILL EXHIBIT THE GROSS FEATURES WITH SUFFICIENT STRUCTURE TO GIVE ACCURATE ANNUAL AVERAGE ISOVENTS. THE ARRAY WAKE INTERFERENCE MODEL EXTENSION INVOLVES APPLYING NONUMIFORM FLOW TO THE BASIC FLUID MECHANICAL CONCEPTS EMPLOYED IN THE LISSAMAN WAKE MODEL. IT IS NOTED THAT AEROVIRONMENT (AV) HAS EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE IN ALL TECHNICAL AND COMMERCIAL DISCIPLINES INVOLVED IN THIS PROJECT. AEROVIRONMENT HAS CONDUCTED WORK OF A SIMILAR NATURE FOR NUMEROUS CLIENTS BY COMBINING THE VARIOUS TECHNICAL TOOLS IN AN AD HOC PROCEDURE. AEROVIRONMENT HAS ACLEAR PICTURE OF WHY THE INTEGRATED TOOL IS NEEDED AND HOW TO DEVELOP IT.