Beyond a certain size, wind farms generate little power and are likely to interfere with neighboring installations, according to a simulation study. Each wind turbine creates a wake that can affect others. Enrico Antonini and Ken Caldeira examined spatial constraints on wind farm expansion to determine how large a wind farm can be before power density, defined as the amount of energy generation per unit of land, is affected. The authors incorporated large-scale atmospheric physical factors, such as the Coriolis force, in creating simulations of various layouts. The simulated wind farms ranged in size from a single row to multiple rows stretching across 100 km. The authors found that arrangement of turbines can increase power density up to a point, which is site-specific and dependent on wind speed and latitude. A transitional scale, which is also primarily dependent on wind speed, separates the behavior of small-scale and large-scale wind farms. In large wind farms, turbine arrangement matters to a relatively small extent, with wind speed reduction from interference being more prominent due to wakes extending up to 50 km downstream. According to the authors, as wind farms increase in an effort to provide sustainable energy, optimizing arrangement, placement, and size is key to maximizing the energy produced.
###
Article #21-03875: "Spatial constraints in large-scale expansion of wind power plants," by Enrico G. A. Antonini and Ken Caldeira.
MEDIA CONTACT: Enrico Antonini, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA; tel: 650-716-8916; email: < eantonini@carnegiescience.edu >
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences