The influence of orographic features on wind farm efficiencies

Abstract

We employ Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solvers for performing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of a neutral atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) for a wind farm located on a complex terrain. We also consider the influence of an adjacent hill/forest on the performance of the wind farm. We study an incompressible, isothermal, stationary wind field by solving the RANS equations using the k-ϵ model. The forest canopy is included as a porous media, with trees of fixed height, using a porous media RANS solver. The presence of wind turbines is taken into account using an actuator disk model, extended for the whole wind farm.