A study of blockage effects at the wind turbine and wind farm scales

Abstract

The paper provides novel insights into the physics behind the wind turbine and wind farm blockages as well as their effects on the energy yield based on the momentum and energy balance. The current work presents blockage effects at two scales: the local scale and the wind farm scale. We clarify the combined effect of local blockages when more than one turbine is present. The work demonstrates why two turbines, which are positioned one behind the other, induce a mutual decrease in energy yield. When the turbines are placed in a row, there is an increase of energy from the end to the middle of the row because of the restriction of the expansion flow. As in the case of two turbines placed behind each other, back rows induce a power decrease for the rows in front of them and the effect increases from the edge to the center. The work also elucidates for the first time how the power output of an isolated row has a maximum in the center, whereas, in a wind farm, wind turbines on the edge of the first row could have maximum power. The findings are supported by CFD.