Richard J.A.M. Stevens

Physics of Fluids · University of Twente

Publication 42 · Wind-farm flow

Effects of turbine spacing on the power output of extended wind-farms

R.J.A.M. Stevens, D.F. Gayme, C. Meneveau, Wind Energy 19 (2), 359-370 (2016).

Main finding

Fully developed power in staggered arrays approximately organizes by the geometric-mean turbine spacing, whereas aligned arrays remain controlled mainly by streamwise spacing; entrance-region and fully developed objectives can therefore favour different layouts.

Fully developed wind farm power against geometric mean spacing for aligned and staggered arrays
How to read the figure. Fully developed power against the geometric mean of the streamwise and spanwise turbine spacing, for aligned (a) and staggered (b) arrays across every tested spacing pair, with Horns Rev and Nysted field points. The staggered cases collapse onto a single rising trend while the aligned ones scatter, because aligned arrays remain controlled mainly by streamwise spacing. Figure 4 covers the entrance region, where the ranking of layouts is different again - so entrance and fully developed objectives can favour different farms. Open the full-resolution figure. Figure 3. R.J.A.M. Stevens et al. (2016). No separate licence is stated here; consult the original publication and credited source before reuse.

Why this matters

The relevant spacing metric depends on alignment and on whether the design target is entrance-region or fully developed power.

Research context

Supports regime-specific spacing variables and the distinction between entrance and fully developed objectives.

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