An Induction Curve Model for Prediction of Power Output of Wind Turbines in Complex Conditions

Abstract

Power generation from wind farms is traditionally modeled using power curves. These models are used for assessment of wind resources or for forecasting energy production from existing wind farms. However, prediction of power using power curves is not accurate since power curves are based on ideal uniform inflow wind, which do not apply to wind turbines installed in complex and heterogeneous terrains and in wind farms. Therefore, there is a need for new models that account for the effect of non-ideal operating conditions. In this work, we propose a model for effective axial induction factor of wind turbines that can be used for power prediction. The proposed model is tested and compared to traditional power curve for a 2.5 MW horizontal axis wind turbine. Data from supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system along with wind speed measurements from a nacelle-mounted sonic anemometer and turbulence measurements from a nearby meteorological tower are used in the models. The results for a period of four months showed an improvement of 51% in power prediction accuracy, compared to the standard power curve.

The Impact of Imperfect Weather Forecasts on Wind Power Forecasting Performance: Evidence from Two Wind Farms in Greece

“…Figures 1 and 2 present the wind power of the two farms versus the wind direction and speed. In practice, the panels of the two figures represent the empirical power curves of the farms, being subject to wind direction and speed, respectively [44]. As seen, in both cases wind power is nonlinearly increased as wind speed becomes larger.…”

Influence of Ultrasonic Wind Sensor Position on Measurement Accuracy under Full-Scale Conditions

“…Most of the works presented above concerned issues related to civil engineering and to the estimation of the wind load acting on the structures using measurements. Other experiments concerned wind speed measurements performed in areas intended for wind farms or monitoring of large and micro wind turbines (e.g., [ 31 , 32 ]).…”