Analysis of Wind Farm Productivity Taking Wake Loss into Account: Case Study

Abstract

Due to the growing demand for green energy, there is a shortage of land available for the location of wind farms. Therefore, the distances between turbines are being reduced, and the power of the turbines is being increased. This results in increased wake loss. The article describes a study of the impact of wind speed deficit and loss of wind turbine output due to wake loss on the decrease in energy efficiency of a wind farm. Two proposed wind farms, where the maximum number of turbines are located, were analyzed. The facilities were designed for implementation in Central Europe. The basic costs of construction and operation of the wind farms (WFs) were estimated. Based on the results of wind measurements and the performance characteristics of wind turbines, the productivity of the WFs was determined. The impact of removing individual turbines with the largest wake losses from the wind farm on the economic outcome of the project was studied. Evaluation criteria were proposed to quantify losses, which can serve as a benchmark for evaluating other wind farms. It was found that the higher the turbine’s power rating, the faster the payback resulting from the wake losses of a single turbine.