Simulated Wakes Effect Platform for Turbines 2 (SWEPT2)

"The SWEPT2 project aims to develop a sophisticated tool for modelling of wind turbine wakes and wake interactions. It is well known that present wake models are inadequate, especially for application to large offshore wind farms, and have led to wind farm designs with larger than expected wake losses. Improved wake models are essential for improved wind farm designs with improved energy yield. Validation of wake models is critical but difficult to undertake at full scale. By making use of LIDAR and full size turbines, the project aims to collect data on wakes that will provide confidence in the validation process. However LIDAR data is not without its own technical challenges, mainly related to data dropout due at times to inadequate back-scatter from aerosol particles. Strathclyde has experience of LIDAR measurement of wind turbine wakes both onshore and offshore and will apply the methods previously developed to provide high quality data sets to be used for model validation within the consortium. There are different ways in which flow field measurements and CDF calculations can be compared to assess the quality of wake models; the Strathclyde team will apply methods previously developed and shown to be effective to the SWEPT2 validation."

We have demonstrated the complexity of wind turbine wake development for a complex onshore wind farm. The interaction between terrain impact on wind flow, and turbine wakes, has been quantified.