Articles | Volume 9, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-65-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-65-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
16 Jan 2024
Research article |
| 16 Jan 2024
| 16 Jan 2024
Towards real-time optimal control of wind farms using large-eddy simulations
Department of Mechanical Engineering, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 300A, B3001 Leuven, Belgium
Johan Meyers
Department of Mechanical Engineering, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 300A, B3001 Leuven, Belgium
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Stefan Ivanell, Warit Chanprasert, Luca Lanzilao, James Bleeg, Johan Meyers, Antoine Mathieu, Søren Juhl Andersen, Rem-Sophia Mouradi, Eric Dupont, Hugo Olivares-Espinosa, and Niels Troldborg
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2025-88, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2025-88, 2025
Preprint under review for WES
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This study explores how the height of the atmosphere's boundary layer impacts wind farm performance, focusing on how this factor influences energy output. By simulating different boundary layer heights and conditions, the research reveals that deeper layers promote better energy recovery. The findings highlight the importance of considering atmospheric conditions when simulating wind farms to maximize energy efficiency, offering valuable insights for the wind energy industry.
Jens Peter Karolus Wenceslaus Frankemölle, Johan Camps, Pieter De Meutter, and Johan Meyers
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 1989–2003, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1989-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1989-2025, 2025
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To detect anomalous radioactivity in the environment, it is paramount that we understand the natural background level. In this work, we propose a statistical model to describe the most likely background level and the associated uncertainty in a network of dose rate detectors. We train, verify, and validate the model using real environmental data. Using the model, we show that we can correctly predict the background level in a subset of the detector network during a known
anomalous event.
Théo Delvaux and Johan Meyers
Wind Energ. Sci., 10, 613–630, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-613-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-613-2025, 2025
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The work explores the potential for wind farm load reduction and power maximization. We carried out a series of high-fidelity large-eddy simulations for a wide range of atmospheric conditions and operating regimes. Because of turbine-scale interactions and large-scale effects, we observed that maximum power extraction is achieved at regimes lower than the Betz operating point. Thus, we proposed three simple approaches with which thrust significantly decreases with only a limited impact on power.
Andrew Kirby, Takafumi Nishino, Luca Lanzilao, Thomas D. Dunstan, and Johan Meyers
Wind Energ. Sci., 10, 435–450, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-435-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-435-2025, 2025
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Traditionally, the aerodynamic loss of wind farm efficiency is classified into wake loss and farm blockage loss. This study, using high-fidelity simulations, shows that neither of these two losses is well correlated with the overall farm efficiency. We propose new measures called turbine-scale efficiency and farm-scale efficiency to better describe turbine–wake effects and farm–atmosphere interactions. This study suggests the importance of better modelling farm-scale loss in future studies.
Olivier Ndindayino, Augustin Puel, and Johan Meyers
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2025-6, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2025-6, 2025
Revised manuscript under review for WES
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Our aim is to understand the relationship between flow blockage and improved wind farm efficiency using large-eddy simulations, as well as developing an analytical model that shows promise for improving turbine power predictions under blockage. We found that blockage enhances turbine power and thrust by inducing a favourable pressure drop across the turbine row, while simultaneously inducing an unfavourable pressure increase downstream which has minimal direct impact on far wake development.
Majid Bastankhah, Marcus Becker, Matthew Churchfield, Caroline Draxl, Jay Prakash Goit, Mehtab Khan, Luis A. Martinez Tossas, Johan Meyers, Patrick Moriarty, Wim Munters, Asim Önder, Sara Porchetta, Eliot Quon, Ishaan Sood, Nicole van Lipzig, Jan-Willem van Wingerden, Paul Veers, and Simon Watson
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 2171–2174, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-2171-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-2171-2024, 2024
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Dries Allaerts was born on 19 May 1989 and passed away at his home in Wezemaal, Belgium, on 10 October 2024 after battling cancer. Dries started his wind energy career in 2012 and had a profound impact afterward on the community, in terms of both his scientific realizations and his many friendships and collaborations in the field. His scientific acumen, open spirit of collaboration, positive attitude towards life, and playful and often cheeky sense of humor will be deeply missed by many.
Jérôme Neirynck, Jonas Van de Walle, Ruben Borgers, Sebastiaan Jamaer, Johan Meyers, Ad Stoffelen, and Nicole P. M. van Lipzig
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1695–1711, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1695-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1695-2024, 2024
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In our study, we assess how mesoscale weather systems influence wind speed variations and their impact on offshore wind energy production fluctuations. We have observed, for instance, that weather systems originating over land lead to sea wind speed variations. Additionally, we noted that power fluctuations are typically more significant in summer, despite potentially larger winter wind speed variations. These findings are valuable for grid management and optimizing renewable energy deployment.
Ruben Borgers, Marieke Dirksen, Ine L. Wijnant, Andrew Stepek, Ad Stoffelen, Naveed Akhtar, Jérôme Neirynck, Jonas Van de Walle, Johan Meyers, and Nicole P. M. van Lipzig
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 697–719, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-697-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-697-2024, 2024
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Wind farms at sea are becoming more densely clustered, which means that next to individual wind turbines interfering with each other in a single wind farm also interference between wind farms becomes important. Using a climate model, this study shows that the efficiency of wind farm clusters and the interference between the wind farms in the cluster depend strongly on the properties of the individual wind farms and are also highly sensitive to the spacing between the wind farms.
Ishaan Sood, Elliot Simon, Athanasios Vitsas, Bart Blockmans, Gunner C. Larsen, and Johan Meyers
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2469–2489, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2469-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2469-2022, 2022
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In this work, we conduct a validation study to compare a numerical solver against measurements obtained from the offshore Lillgrund wind farm. By reusing a previously developed inflow turbulent dataset, the atmospheric conditions at the wind farm were recreated, and the general performance trends of the turbines were captured well. The work increases the reliability of numerical wind farm solvers while highlighting the challenges of accurately representing large wind farms using such solvers.
Paul Veers, Katherine Dykes, Sukanta Basu, Alessandro Bianchini, Andrew Clifton, Peter Green, Hannele Holttinen, Lena Kitzing, Branko Kosovic, Julie K. Lundquist, Johan Meyers, Mark O'Malley, William J. Shaw, and Bethany Straw
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2491–2496, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2491-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2491-2022, 2022
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Wind energy will play a central role in the transition of our energy system to a carbon-free future. However, many underlying scientific issues remain to be resolved before wind can be deployed in the locations and applications needed for such large-scale ambitions. The Grand Challenges are the gaps in the science left behind during the rapid growth of wind energy. This article explains the breadth of the unfinished business and introduces 10 articles that detail the research needs.
Johan Meyers, Carlo Bottasso, Katherine Dykes, Paul Fleming, Pieter Gebraad, Gregor Giebel, Tuhfe Göçmen, and Jan-Willem van Wingerden
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2271–2306, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2271-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2271-2022, 2022
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We provide a comprehensive overview of the state of the art and the outstanding challenges in wind farm flow control, thus identifying the key research areas that could further enable commercial uptake and success. To this end, we have structured the discussion on challenges and opportunities into four main areas: (1) insight into control flow physics, (2) algorithms and AI, (3) validation and industry implementation, and (4) integrating control with system design
(co-design).
Konstanze Kölle, Tuhfe Göçmen, Irene Eguinoa, Leonardo Andrés Alcayaga Román, Maria Aparicio-Sanchez, Ju Feng, Johan Meyers, Vasilis Pettas, and Ishaan Sood
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2181–2200, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2181-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2181-2022, 2022
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The paper studies wind farm flow control (WFFC) in simulations with variable electricity prices. The results indicate that considering the electricity price in the operational strategy can be beneficial with respect to the gained income compared to focusing on the power gain only. Moreover, revenue maximization by balancing power production and structural load reduction is demonstrated at the example of a single wind turbine.
Tuhfe Göçmen, Filippo Campagnolo, Thomas Duc, Irene Eguinoa, Søren Juhl Andersen, Vlaho Petrović, Lejla Imširović, Robert Braunbehrens, Jaime Liew, Mads Baungaard, Maarten Paul van der Laan, Guowei Qian, Maria Aparicio-Sanchez, Rubén González-Lope, Vinit V. Dighe, Marcus Becker, Maarten J. van den Broek, Jan-Willem van Wingerden, Adam Stock, Matthew Cole, Renzo Ruisi, Ervin Bossanyi, Niklas Requate, Simon Strnad, Jonas Schmidt, Lukas Vollmer, Ishaan Sood, and Johan Meyers
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 1791–1825, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1791-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1791-2022, 2022
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The FarmConners benchmark is the first of its kind to bring a wide variety of data sets, control settings, and model complexities for the (initial) assessment of wind farm flow control benefits. Here we present the first part of the benchmark results for three blind tests with large-scale rotors and 11 participating models in total, via direct power comparisons at the turbines as well as the observed or estimated power gain at the wind farm level under wake steering control strategy.
Koen Devesse, Luca Lanzilao, Sebastiaan Jamaer, Nicole van Lipzig, and Johan Meyers
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 1367–1382, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1367-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1367-2022, 2022
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Recent research suggests that offshore wind farms might form such a large obstacle to the wind that it already decelerates before reaching the first turbines. Part of this phenomenon could be explained by gravity waves. Research on these gravity waves triggered by mountains and hills has found that variations in the atmospheric state with altitude can have a large effect on how they behave. This paper is the first to take the impact of those vertical variations into account for wind farms.
Thomas Haas, Jochem De Schutter, Moritz Diehl, and Johan Meyers
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 1093–1135, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1093-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1093-2022, 2022
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In this work, we study parks of large-scale airborne wind energy systems using a virtual flight simulator. The virtual flight simulator combines numerical techniques from flow simulation and kite control. Using advanced control algorithms, the systems can operate efficiently in the park despite turbulent flow conditions. For the three configurations considered in the study, we observe significant wake effects, reducing the power yield of the parks.
Luca Lanzilao and Johan Meyers
Wind Energ. Sci., 6, 247–271, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-6-247-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-6-247-2021, 2021
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This research paper investigates the potential of thrust set-point optimization in large wind farms for mitigating gravity-wave-induced blockage effects for the first time, with the aim of increasing the wind-farm energy extraction. The optimization tool is applied to almost 2000 different atmospheric states. Overall, power gains above 4 % are observed for 77 % of the cases.
Wim Munters and Johan Meyers
Wind Energ. Sci., 3, 409–425, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-3-409-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-3-409-2018, 2018
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Wake interactions in wind farms result in power losses for downstream turbines. We aim to mitigate these losses through coordinated control of the induced slowdown of the wind by each turbine. We further analyze results from earlier work towards the utilization of such control strategies in practice. Coherent vortex shedding is identified and mimicked by a sinusoidal control. The latter is shown to increase power in downstream turbines and is robust to turbine spacing and turbulence intensity.
Sjoerd Boersma, Bart Doekemeijer, Mehdi Vali, Johan Meyers, and Jan-Willem van Wingerden
Wind Energ. Sci., 3, 75–95, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-3-75-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-3-75-2018, 2018
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Controlling the flow within wind farms to reduce the fatigue loads and provide grid facilities such as the delivery of a demanded power is a challenging control problem due to the underlying time-varying non-linear wake dynamics. In this paper, a control-oriented dynamical wind farm model is presented and validated with high-fidelity wind farm models. In contrast to the latter models, the model presented in this work is computationally efficient and hence suitable for online wind farm control.
Carl R. Shapiro, Johan Meyers, Charles Meneveau, and Dennice F. Gayme
Wind Energ. Sci., 3, 11–24, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-3-11-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-3-11-2018, 2018
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We investigate the capability of wind farms to track a power reference signal to help ensure reliable power grid operations. The wind farm controller is based on a simple dynamic wind farm model and tested using high-fidelity simulations. We find that the dynamic nature of the wind farm model is vital for tracking the power signal, and the controlled wind farm would pass industry performance tests in most cases.
Vahid S. Bokharaie, Pieter Bauweraerts, and Johan Meyers
Wind Energ. Sci., 1, 311–325, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-1-311-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-1-311-2016, 2016
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Given a wind farm with known dimensions and number of wind turbines, we try to find the optimum positioning of wind turbines that maximises wind-farm energy production. We propose an optimisation approach that is based on a hybrid combination of large-eddy simulation (LES) and the Jensen model; in this approach optimisation is mainly performed using the Jensen model, and LES is used at a few points only during optimisation for online tuning of the Jensen model.
Related subject area
Thematic area: Dynamics and control | Topic: Wind farm control
Modular deep learning approach for wind farm power forecasting and wake loss prediction
Comparison of wind farm control strategies under realistic offshore wind conditions: turbine quantities of interest
Development and validation of a hybrid data-driven model-based wake steering controller and its application at a utility-scale wind plant
A dynamic open-source model to investigate wake dynamics in response to wind farm flow control strategies
Evaluating the potential of a wake steering co-design for wind farm layout optimization through a tailored genetic algorithm
Integer programming for optimal yaw control of wind farms
On the importance of wind predictions in wake steering optimization
On the power and control of a misaligned rotor – beyond the cosine law
Dynamic wind farm flow control using free-vortex wake models
The value of wake steering wind farm flow control in US energy markets
Load assessment of a wind farm considering negative and positive yaw misalignment for wake steering
Sensitivity analysis of wake steering optimisation for wind farm power maximisation
The dynamic coupling between the pulse wake mixing strategy and floating wind turbines
Validation of an interpretable data-driven wake model using lidar measurements from a field wake steering experiment
Wind farm flow control: prospects and challenges
Large-eddy simulation of a wind-turbine array subjected to active yaw control
FarmConners market showcase results: wind farm flow control considering electricity prices
The revised FLORIDyn model: implementation of heterogeneous flow and the Gaussian wake
Multifidelity multiobjective optimization for wake-steering strategies
Evaluation of different power tracking operating strategies considering turbine loading and power dynamics
A physically interpretable data-driven surrogate model for wake steering
Experimental analysis of the effect of dynamic induction control on a wind turbine wake
Stijn Ally, Timothy Verstraeten, Pieter-Jan Daems, Ann Nowé, and Jan Helsen
Wind Energ. Sci., 10, 779–812, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-779-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-779-2025, 2025
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Wind farms are crucial for a sustainable energy future. However, their power can fluctuate significantly due to changing weather conditions, which complexly affect their power generation. This paper presents a novel machine-learning-based method to enhance wind farm power predictions, enabling improved power scheduling, trading and grid balancing. This makes wind power more valuable and easier to integrate into the energy system.
Joeri A. Frederik, Eric Simley, Kenneth A. Brown, Gopal R. Yalla, Lawrence C. Cheung, and Paul A. Fleming
Wind Energ. Sci., 10, 755–777, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-755-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-755-2025, 2025
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In this paper, we present results from advanced computer simulations to determine the effects of applying different control strategies to a small wind farm. We show that when there is variability in wind direction over height, steering the wake of a turbine away from other turbines is the most effective strategy. When this variability is not present, actively changing the pitch angle of the blades to increase turbulence in the wake could be more effective.
Peter Bachant, Peter Ireland, Brian Burrows, Chi Qiao, James Duncan, Danian Zheng, and Mohit Dua
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 2235–2259, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-2235-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-2235-2024, 2024
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Intentional misalignment of upstream turbines in wind plants in order to steer wakes away from downstream turbines has been a topic of research interest for years but has not yet achieved widespread commercial adoption. We deploy one such wake steering system to a utility-scale wind plant and then create a model to predict plant behavior and enable successful control. We apply calibrations to a physics-based model and use machine learning to correct its outputs to improve predictive capability.
Marcus Becker, Maxime Lejeune, Philippe Chatelain, Dries Allaerts, Rafael Mudafort, and Jan-Willem van Wingerden
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-150, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-150, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for WES
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Established turbine wake models are steady-state. This paper presents an open-source dynamic wake modeling framework that compliments established steady-state wake models with dynamics. It is advantageous over steady-state wake models to describe wind farm power and energy over shorter periods. The model enables researchers to investigate the effectiveness of wind farm flow control strategies. This leads to a better utilization of wind farms and allows their use to the full extent.
Matteo Baricchio, Pieter M. O. Gebraad, and Jan-Willem van Wingerden
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 2113–2132, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-2113-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-2113-2024, 2024
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Wake steering can be integrated into wind farm layout optimization through a co-design approach. This study estimates the potential of this method for a wide range of realistic conditions, adopting a tailored genetic algorithm and novel geometric yaw relations. A gain in the annual energy yield between 0.3 % and 0.4 % is obtained for a 16-tubrine farm, and a multi-objective implementation is used to limit loss in the case that wake steering is not used during farm operation.
Felix Bestehorn, Florian Bürgel, Christian Kirches, Sebastian Stiller, and Andreas M. Tillmann
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-120, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-120, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for WES
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Wind turbines organized in wind farms are an important electric power source. Thereby, each wind turbine causes a so-called wake with a reduced wind speed. This can influence following wind turbines and is an opportunity to optimize the operation of the complete wind farm, i.e., we steer the wakes to increase the total power output of the wind farm. In order to do this efficiently, we exploit repetitive structures within a wind farm.
Elie Kadoche, Pascal Bianchi, Florence Carton, Philippe Ciblat, and Damien Ernst
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1577–1594, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1577-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1577-2024, 2024
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This work proposes a new wind farm controller based on wind predictions and conducts a synthetic sensitivity analysis of wake steering and the variations of the wind direction. For wind turbines that can rotate from −15 to 15° every 10 min, if the wind direction changes by more than 7.34° every 10 min, it is important to consider future wind data in a steady-state yaw control optimization.
Simone Tamaro, Filippo Campagnolo, and Carlo L. Bottasso
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 1547–1575, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1547-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-1547-2024, 2024
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We develop a new simple model to predict power losses incurred by a wind turbine when it yaws out of the wind. The model reveals the effects of a number of rotor design parameters and how the turbine is governed when it yaws. The model exhibits an excellent agreement with large eddy simulations and wind tunnel measurements. We showcase the capabilities of the model by deriving the power-optimal yaw strategy for a single turbine and for a cluster of wake-interacting turbines.
Maarten J. van den Broek, Marcus Becker, Benjamin Sanderse, and Jan-Willem van Wingerden
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 721–740, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-721-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-721-2024, 2024
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Wind turbine wakes negatively affect wind farm performance as they impinge on downstream rotors. Wake steering reduces these losses by redirecting wakes using yaw misalignment of the upstream rotor. We develop a novel control strategy based on model predictions to implement wake steering under time-varying conditions. The controller is tested in a high-fidelity simulation environment and improves wind farm power output compared to a state-of-the-art reference controller.
Eric Simley, Dev Millstein, Seongeun Jeong, and Paul Fleming
Wind Energ. Sci., 9, 219–234, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-219-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-9-219-2024, 2024
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Wake steering is a wind farm control technology in which turbines are misaligned with the wind to deflect their wakes away from downstream turbines, increasing total power production. In this paper, we use a wind farm control model and historical electricity prices to assess the potential increase in market value from wake steering for 15 US wind plants. For most plants, we find that the relative increase in revenue from wake steering exceeds the relative increase in energy production.
Regis Thedin, Garrett Barter, Jason Jonkman, Rafael Mudafort, Christopher J. Bay, Kelsey Shaler, and Jasper Kreeft
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-6, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2024-6, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for WES
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This work investigates asymmetries in terms of power performance and fatigue loading on a 5-turbine wind farm subject to wake steering strategies. Both the yaw misalignment angle and the wind direction were varied from negative to positive. We highlight conditions in which fatigue loading is lower while still maintenance good power gains and show that partial wake is the source of the asymmetries observed. We provide recommendations in terms of yaw misalignment angles for a given wind direction.
Filippo Gori, Sylvain Laizet, and Andrew Wynn
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 1425–1451, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1425-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-1425-2023, 2023
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Wake steering is a promising strategy to increase the power output of modern wind farms by mitigating the negative effects of aerodynamic interaction among turbines. As farm layouts grow in size to meet renewable targets, the complexity of wake steering optimisation increases too. With the objective of enabling robust and predictable wake steering solutions, this study investigates the sensitivity of wake steering optimisation for three different farm layouts with increasing complexity levels.
Daniel van den Berg, Delphine de Tavernier, and Jan-Willem van Wingerden
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 849–864, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-849-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-849-2023, 2023
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Wind turbines placed in farms interact with their wake, lowering the power production of the wind farm. This can be mitigated using so-called wake mixing techniques. This work investigates the coupling between the pulse wake mixing technique and the motion of floating wind turbines using the pulse. Frequency response experiments and time domain simulations show that extra movement is undesired and that the
optimalexcitation frequency is heavily platform dependent.
Balthazar Arnoldus Maria Sengers, Gerald Steinfeld, Paul Hulsman, and Martin Kühn
Wind Energ. Sci., 8, 747–770, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-747-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-8-747-2023, 2023
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The optimal misalignment angles for wake steering are determined using wake models. Although mostly analytical, data-driven models have recently shown promising results. This study validates a previously proposed data-driven model with results from a field experiment using lidar measurements. In a comparison with a state-of-the-art analytical model, it shows systematically more accurate estimates of the available power. Also when using only commonly available input data, it gives good results.
Johan Meyers, Carlo Bottasso, Katherine Dykes, Paul Fleming, Pieter Gebraad, Gregor Giebel, Tuhfe Göçmen, and Jan-Willem van Wingerden
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2271–2306, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2271-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2271-2022, 2022
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We provide a comprehensive overview of the state of the art and the outstanding challenges in wind farm flow control, thus identifying the key research areas that could further enable commercial uptake and success. To this end, we have structured the discussion on challenges and opportunities into four main areas: (1) insight into control flow physics, (2) algorithms and AI, (3) validation and industry implementation, and (4) integrating control with system design
(co-design).
Mou Lin and Fernando Porté-Agel
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2215–2230, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2215-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2215-2022, 2022
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Large-eddy simulation (LES) is a widely used method to study wind turbine flow. To save computational resources, the turbine-inducing forces in LES are often modelled by parametrisations. We validate three widely used turbine parametrisations in LES in different yaw and offset configurations with wind tunnel measurements, and we find that, in comparison with other parametrisations, the blade element actuator disk model strikes a good balance of accuracy and computational cost.
Konstanze Kölle, Tuhfe Göçmen, Irene Eguinoa, Leonardo Andrés Alcayaga Román, Maria Aparicio-Sanchez, Ju Feng, Johan Meyers, Vasilis Pettas, and Ishaan Sood
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2181–2200, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2181-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2181-2022, 2022
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The paper studies wind farm flow control (WFFC) in simulations with variable electricity prices. The results indicate that considering the electricity price in the operational strategy can be beneficial with respect to the gained income compared to focusing on the power gain only. Moreover, revenue maximization by balancing power production and structural load reduction is demonstrated at the example of a single wind turbine.
Marcus Becker, Bastian Ritter, Bart Doekemeijer, Daan van der Hoek, Ulrich Konigorski, Dries Allaerts, and Jan-Willem van Wingerden
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 2163–2179, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2163-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-2163-2022, 2022
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In this paper we present a revised dynamic control-oriented wind farm model. The model can simulate turbine wake behaviour in heterogeneous and changing wind conditions at a very low computational cost. It utilizes a three-dimensional turbine wake model which also allows capturing vertical wind speed differences. The model could be used to maximise the power generation of with farms, even during events like a wind direction change. It is publicly available and open for further development.
Julian Quick, Ryan N. King, Garrett Barter, and Peter E. Hamlington
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 1941–1955, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1941-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1941-2022, 2022
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Wake steering is an emerging wind power plant control strategy where upstream turbines are intentionally yawed out of alignment with the incoming wind, thereby steering wakes away from downstream turbines. Trade-offs between the gains in power production and fatigue loads induced by this control strategy are the subject of continuing investigation. In this study, we present an optimization approach for efficiently exploring the trade-offs between power and loading during wake steering.
Florian Pöschke and Horst Schulte
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 1593–1604, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1593-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1593-2022, 2022
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The paper compares two different strategies for wind turbine control when following a power command. A model-based control scheme for a 5 MW wind turbine is designed, and a comparison in terms of the mechanical loading and the attainable power dynamics is drawn based on simulation studies. Reduced-order models suitable for integration into an upper-level control design are discussed. The dependence of the turbine behavior on the chosen strategy is illustrated and analyzed.
Balthazar Arnoldus Maria Sengers, Matthias Zech, Pim Jacobs, Gerald Steinfeld, and Martin Kühn
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 1455–1470, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1455-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1455-2022, 2022
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Wake steering aims to redirect the wake away from a downstream turbine. This study explores the potential of a data-driven surrogate model whose equations can be interpreted physically. It estimates wake characteristics from measurable input variables by utilizing a simple linear model. The model shows encouraging results in estimating available power in the far wake, with significant improvements over currently used analytical models in conditions where wake steering is deemed most effective.
Daan van der Hoek, Joeri Frederik, Ming Huang, Fulvio Scarano, Carlos Simao Ferreira, and Jan-Willem van Wingerden
Wind Energ. Sci., 7, 1305–1320, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1305-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-7-1305-2022, 2022
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The paper presents a wind tunnel experiment where dynamic induction control was implemented on a small-scale turbine. By periodically changing the pitch angle of the blades, the low-velocity turbine wake is perturbed, and hence it recovers at a faster rate. Small particles were released in the flow and subsequently recorded with a set of high-speed cameras. This allowed us to reconstruct the flow behind the turbine and investigate the effect of dynamic induction control on the wake.
Cited articles
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Short summary
Proper wind farm control may vastly contribute to Europe's plan to go carbon neutral. However, current strategies don't account for turbine–wake interactions affecting power extraction. High-fidelity models (e.g., LES) are needed to accurately model this but are considered too slow in practice. By coarsening the resolution, we were able to design an efficient LES-based controller with real-time potential. This may allow us to bridge the gap towards practical wind farm control in the near future.
Proper wind farm control may vastly contribute to Europe's plan to go carbon neutral. However,...
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