A Study of Wind Turbine Wakes in Complex Terrain Through RANS Simulation and SCADA Data

Abstract

This work deals with wind turbine wakes in complex terrain. The test case is a cluster of four 2.3 MW wind turbines, sited in a very complex terrain. Their performances are studied through supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) data, suggesting a relevant role of the terrain in distorting the wake of the upstream turbines. The experimental evidences stimulate a deeper comprehension through numerical modeling: computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are run, using the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) formulation. A novel way of elaborating the output of the simulations is proposed, providing metrics for quantifying the three-dimensional (3D) evolution of the wake. The main outcome of the numerical analysis is that the terrain distorts the wind flow so that the wake profile is severely asymmetric with respect to the lateral displacement. Further, the role of orography singularities is highlighted in dividing the wake front, thus inducing faster wake recovery with respect to flat terrain. This interpretation is confirmed by SCADA data analysis.