Analysis of Wind Turbine Distances Using a Novel Techno-Spatial Approach in Complex Wind Farm Terrains

Abstract

Among the current challenges facing the energy sector is finding environmentally friendly and high-performance forms of energy generation. One such form of energy generation is from the wind. In addition to the fluctuations that cause changes in the generated energy, another factor that significantly affects the overall efficiency of wind farms is the distance between the turbines. In that context, a distance of at least three diameters (3D) onwards is necessary to enable a stable operation. This is more difficult to implement for mountainous terrain due to the terrain configuration’s influence, the turbine units’ positioning, and the mutual influence resulting from their position in the area under consideration. This work investigates the interdependence of the terrain features, the placement of ten turbines in different scenarios, and the impact on the overall efficiency of the wind farm. The place where the wind farm is considered is in Koznica, a mountainous area near Prishtina. An analysis has been carried out for two-diameter (2D), three-diameter (3D), and five-diameter (5D) turbine blade spacing for turbines with a rated power of 3.4 MW. The study considers placement in the following forms: Arc, I, L, M, and V. The results show that for 2D distance layout, the capacity factors for Arc, I, L, M, and V placements have the values: 32.9%, 29.8%, 31.1%, 30.6%, and 37.1%. For the 3D distance, according to these scenarios, the capacity factor values are: 29.9%, 30.8%, 30.4%, 29.3%, and 35.6%. For the longest distance, 5D, the capacity factor values are: 28.9%, 29.9%, 29.4%, 27.6%, and 30.6%. The value of the capacity factor for an optimal layout; is achieved at 39.3%.

Renewable Energy from Wind Farm Power Plants in Peru: Recent Advances, Challenges, and Future Perspectives

“…The main advantages highlighted in Table 15 are that the environmental impacts in the territory with this renewable energy technology are low, and it is also highlighted that its operation and maintenance are easy to execute, while it also generates important employment opportunities mainly during its construction stage [38,39]. On the other hand, some of the disadvantages observed are as follows: it is a discontinuous energy source; it is conditioned to the intensity and direction of winds which can change suddenly; and it is not compatible with being implemented in territories of protected natural areas and/or archaeological/cultural heritage [40,41].…”

Mixing Renewable Energy with Pumped Hydropower Storage: Design Optimization under Uncertainty and Other Challenges

“…The a and k values are set equal to 0.10 and 0.038, respectively, as suggested in [34]. In our case, we considered the use of four wind turbines, i.e., two large ones with 2.3 MW and two small ones with 0.9 MW of nominal power, respectively, distanced at 400 m. It is important to remark that the greater distance between the turbines might initially seem ideal, since the associated wind speed reduction is reduced; however, it does not necessarily result in optimal layouts [35]. The wind power production for a given wind speed value is calculated by the analytical formula, introduced by Sakki et al [36]:…”

Optimization of Non-Uniform Onshore Wind Farm Layout Using Modified Electric Charged Particles Optimization Algorithm Considering Different Terrain Characteristics

“…This parameter was a pivotal metric in assessing the severity of land-use limitations while quantifying the percentage of viable land available for utilization. Hoxha et al [27] investigated the effects of terrain characteristics on the wind farm efficiency in mountainous areas. The results show that continually increasing the WT distance does not always yield better wind farm efficiency.…”