NUMERICAL MODEL FOR PREDICTING WIND TURBINE ARRAY PERFORMANCE IN COMPLEX TERRAIN

A MAJOR PROBLEM FACED BY WIND ENERGY DEVELOPERS IS THE LACK OF A CONSISTENT AND ACCURATE METHODOLOGY FOR DETERMINING THEAMOUNT OF ENERGY THAT WILL BE PRODUCED BY THEIR WIND TURBINES BEFORE THEY ARE INSTALLED. WINDFARM DEVELOPERS HAVE DISCOVERED NUMEROUS AND SURPRISING DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN EXPECTED TURBINE PERFORMANCE (BASED ON WIND RESOURCEASSESSMENTS) AND ACTUAL ENERGY PRODUCTION REALIZED. THESE DISCREPANCIES HAVE BEEN PARTICULARLY APPARENT WITHIN CLOSELY-PACKED ARRAYS TYPICAL OF EXISTING WINDFARMS AND ARE ESPECIALLY APPARENT IN COMPLEX TERRAIN ENVIRONMENT. AT PRESENT THERE IS NO METHOD FOR PREDICTING THE COMBINED EFFECT OF CLOSELY PACKING TURBINES IN ARRAYS AND COMPLEX TERRAIN INFLUENCES, ON THE PRODUCTION TO BE REALIZED. THE EFFECT OF THE TERRAIN ON THE WIND FLOW FIELD AND TURBINE WAKE INTERFERENCE HAVE, UNTIL NOW, ALWAYS BEEN ADDRESSED SEPARATELY. THE PURPOSE OF THE PHASE I RESEARCH IS TO INTEGRATE THE WAKE INTERFERENCE MODEL DEVELOPED BY LISSAMAN INTO A THREE-DIMENSIONAL MASS CONSISTENT NUMERICAL MODEL FORWIND FLOW OVER COMPLEX TERRAIN AND COMPARE THE CALCULATED RESULTS WITH WIND TURBINE PRODUCTION FROM A COMMERCIALLY OPERATING WINDFARM.