Wind farm blockage in a stable atmospheric boundary layer

Strickland, J.M.I.; Gadde, S.N.; Stevens, R.J.A.M.

doi:10.1016/j.renene.2022.07.108

Publication 96 · Atmospheric turbulence

Wind farm blockage in a stable atmospheric boundary layer

J.M.I. Strickland, S.N. Gadde, R.J.A.M. Stevens, Renewable Energy 197, 50-58 (2022).

Main finding

The article isolates surface-cooling effects on wind-farm blockage while deliberately excluding a capping inversion and its gravity-wave pathway. Boussinesq LES uses AMD and filtered actuator disks (D=125 m, z_h=100 m, C_T=0.85). Geostrophic speed is 12 m s^-1, f=1.159e-4 s^-1.

First-row power against turbine spacing and surface cooling rate, showing blockage strengthening with stability — **How to read the figure.** First-row power relative to a solitary row. (a) Against surface cooling rate at four streamwise spacings; (b) against spacing at four cooling rates. Blockage grows as spacing narrows and as cooling strengthens, from about 1% in the neutral case at 7D to roughly 15% at 1.75D under the strongest cooling. Open the full-resolution figure. Figure 6. J.M.I. Strickland et al. (2022). No separate licence is stated here; consult the original publication and credited source before reuse.

Why this matters

It supports the idea that a farm can slow flow before the first row and that stability strengthens the effect.

Research context

By excluding a capping inversion, the simulations isolate a cooling-associated entrance response from the usual gravity-wave pathway. The cooling sweep also changes boundary-layer depth, low-level-jet structure, veer, and turbulence, so it does not establish a solely hydrostatic cause.

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