Field Validation of Wake Steering Control with Wind Direction Variability: Preprint

Conference · Thu Feb 06 00:00:00 EST 2020

OSTI ID:1599567

Simley, Eric J ^[1]; Fleming, Paul A ^[1]; King, Jennifer R ^[1]

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1. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Wake steering is a type of wind farm control strategy wherein upstream turbines are misaligned with the wind direction to redirect their wakes away from downstream turbines, increasing overall wind plant power. Wake steering is often analyzed assuming steady mean wind directions across the wind farm. However, in practice, the wind direction varies considerably over time because of large-scale weather phenomena. Wind direction variability causes wake steering controllers to increase power production less than predicted by steady state models, but more robust wake steering strategies can be designed that account for variable wind conditions. This paper compares the achieved yaw offsets and power gains from two 2-turbine wake steering experiments at a commercial wind farm with model predictions using the FLOw Redirection and Induction in Steady State (FLORIS) control-oriented model, assuming both fixed and variable wind directions. The impact of wind direction variability is modeled by including wind direction and yaw uncertainty in the FLORIS calculations. The field results match the trends predicted assuming wind direction variability. Specifically, the yaw offsets achieved in the intended control regions are lower than desired, resulting in less power gain, while a slight loss in power occurs for wind directions outside of the intended control region because of unintentional yaw misalignment. The agreement between the model and field results suggests that the wind direction variability model can be used to design wake steering controllers that are more robust to variable wind conditions present in the field.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Wind and Water Technologies Office (EE-4W)
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1599567
• Report Number(s): NREL/CP-5000-74808
• Conference Information: Presented at NAWEA/WindTech 2019, 14-16 October 2019, Amherst, Massachusetts
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

17 WIND ENERGY
uncertainty
wake steering
wind direction variability
wind plant control