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Title: Incorporation of the Rotor-Equivalent Wind Speed into the Weather Research and Forecasting Model’s Wind Farm Parameterization

Abstract

Wind power installations have been increasing in recent years. Because wind turbines can influence local wind speeds, temperatures, and surface fluxes, weather forecasting models should consider their effects. Wind farm parameterizations do currently exist for numerical weather prediction models. They generally consider two turbine impacts: elevated drag in the region of the wind turbine rotor disk and increased turbulent kinetic energy production. The wind farm parameterization available in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model calculates this drag and TKE as a function of hub-height wind speed. However, recent work has suggested that integrating momentum over the entire rotor disk [via a rotor-equivalent wind speed (REWS)] is more appropriate, especially for cases with high wind shear. In this study, we implement the REWS in the WRF wind farm parameterization and evaluate its impacts in an idealized environment, with varying amounts of wind speed shear and wind directional veer. Specifically, we evaluate three separate cases: neutral stability with low wind shear, high stability with high wind shear, and high stability with nonlinear wind shear. For most situations, use of the REWS with the wind farm parameterization has marginal impacts on model forecasts. However, for scenarios with highly nonlinear wind shear, themore » REWS can significantly affect results.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States). Dept. of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, and the Cooperative Inst. for Research in Environmental Sciences
  2. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States). Cooperative Inst. for Research in Environmental Sciences, Global Systems Division
  3. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States). Dept. of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
  4. Vibrant Clean Energy, Boulder (Colorado)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
National Science Foundation (NSF)
OSTI Identifier:
1507679
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5000-73673
Journal ID: ISSN 0027-0644
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC36-08GO28308; 1413980
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Monthly Weather Review
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 147; Journal Issue: 3; Journal ID: ISSN 0027-0644
Publisher:
American Meteorological Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
17 WIND ENERGY; atmosphere; mesoscale forecasting; numerical weather prediction/forecasting; parameterization; renewable energy; wind effects

Citation Formats

Redfern, Stephanie, Olson, Joseph B., Lundquist, Julie K., and Clack, Christopher T. M. Incorporation of the Rotor-Equivalent Wind Speed into the Weather Research and Forecasting Model’s Wind Farm Parameterization. United States: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1175/MWR-D-18-0194.1.
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Redfern, Stephanie, Olson, Joseph B., Lundquist, Julie K., & Clack, Christopher T. M. Incorporation of the Rotor-Equivalent Wind Speed into the Weather Research and Forecasting Model’s Wind Farm Parameterization. United States. https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-18-0194.1
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Redfern, Stephanie, Olson, Joseph B., Lundquist, Julie K., and Clack, Christopher T. M. Tue . "Incorporation of the Rotor-Equivalent Wind Speed into the Weather Research and Forecasting Model’s Wind Farm Parameterization". United States. https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-18-0194.1. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1507679.
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@article{osti_1507679,
title = {Incorporation of the Rotor-Equivalent Wind Speed into the Weather Research and Forecasting Model’s Wind Farm Parameterization},
author = {Redfern, Stephanie and Olson, Joseph B. and Lundquist, Julie K. and Clack, Christopher T. M.},
abstractNote = {Wind power installations have been increasing in recent years. Because wind turbines can influence local wind speeds, temperatures, and surface fluxes, weather forecasting models should consider their effects. Wind farm parameterizations do currently exist for numerical weather prediction models. They generally consider two turbine impacts: elevated drag in the region of the wind turbine rotor disk and increased turbulent kinetic energy production. The wind farm parameterization available in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model calculates this drag and TKE as a function of hub-height wind speed. However, recent work has suggested that integrating momentum over the entire rotor disk [via a rotor-equivalent wind speed (REWS)] is more appropriate, especially for cases with high wind shear. In this study, we implement the REWS in the WRF wind farm parameterization and evaluate its impacts in an idealized environment, with varying amounts of wind speed shear and wind directional veer. Specifically, we evaluate three separate cases: neutral stability with low wind shear, high stability with high wind shear, and high stability with nonlinear wind shear. For most situations, use of the REWS with the wind farm parameterization has marginal impacts on model forecasts. However, for scenarios with highly nonlinear wind shear, the REWS can significantly affect results.},
doi = {10.1175/MWR-D-18-0194.1},
journal = {Monthly Weather Review},
number = 3,
volume = 147,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Mar 12 00:00:00 EDT 2019},
month = {Tue Mar 12 00:00:00 EDT 2019}
}
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Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-18-0194.1
Copyright Statement
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Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 18 works
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Figures / Tables:

FIG. 1 FIG. 1: Eta levels used for this study, as well as their corresponding heights.
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Works referenced in this record:

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    Works referencing / citing this record:

    Modified Power Curves for Prediction of Power Output of Wind Farms
    journal, May 2019

    • Vahidzadeh, Mohsen; Markfort, Corey D.
    • Energies, Vol. 12, Issue 9
    • DOI: 10.3390/en12091805

    The future of forecasting for renewable energy
    journal, September 2019

    • Sweeney, Conor; Bessa, Ricardo J.; Browell, Jethro
    • WIREs Energy and Environment, Vol. 9, Issue 2
    • DOI: 10.1002/wene.365

    Turbulent kinetic energy over large offshore wind farms observed and simulated by the mesoscale model WRF (3.8.1)
    journal, January 2020

    • Siedersleben, Simon K.; Platis, Andreas; Lundquist, Julie K.
    • Geoscientific Model Development, Vol. 13, Issue 1
    • DOI: 10.5194/gmd-13-249-2020

    An Induction Curve Model for Prediction of Power Output of Wind Turbines in Complex Conditions
    journal, February 2020

    • Vahidzadeh, Mohsen; Markfort, Corey D.
    • Energies, Vol. 13, Issue 4
    • DOI: 10.3390/en13040891

    Turbulent kinetic energy over large offshore wind farms observed and simulated by the mesoscale model WRF (3.8.1)
    text, January 2020

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      TABLE 1 (p. 7)table
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      TABLE 2 (p. 9)table
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      FIG. A1 (p. 14)figure
      FIG. A3 (p. 16)figure
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