The Atmospheric Stability Dependence of Far Wakes on the Power Output of Downstream Wind Farms

Abstract

Stability-dependent far-field offshore wind-farm wakes are detected in Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) wind power records from wind farms located in the North Sea. The results are used to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Openwind engineering model, which in turn enables understanding of the wake signal captured by the SCADA data. Two experimental model set-ups are evaluated, the current standard set-up considering a neutral atmosphere and extended for stable conditions, and the other using a new atmospheric stability implementation called the far-wake atmospheric stability model (ASM) previously reported in Energies. The ASM approach enables the identification within wind power records of wakes of length at least 30 km depending on the atmospheric stability. The ASM approach would be useful for assessing which neighboring wind farms are likely to affect the wind turbine power output and to what extent the power output is affected by stability.