Wind turbine wake mitigation with active control in a utility sized wind farms under varying thermal stratifications of the atmosphere

Among renewable technologies, wind energy offers some of the lowest levelized costs of energy in Canada and therefore holds significant potential to contribute to the nation’s clean energy transition. However, the large-scale deployment of wind energy in wind farms presents new challenges that are not encountered with standalone turbines. When downstream turbines operate in the wake of upstream turbines, their generated power drops significantly, resulting in substantial losses of the wind farm’s efficiency and ultimately affecting its profitability and delaying the return on investment. One promising method to reduce the intra-farm wake effect is helix active wake control, which achieves power gains of up to 12% in small-scale wind turbine arrays. However, modern wind farms are orders of magnitude larger and therefore interact differently with the atmosphere. This research project assesses the potential of helix active wake control to improve the efficiency of wind farms and enhance their economic viability. Overall, the research directly contributes to Canada’s Federal Sustainable Development Strategy and addresses broad challenges in renewable energy integration, which are also top priorities for the partnering university and nation (Netherlands).

Faculty Supervisor:

Joshua Brinkerhoff

Student:

Partner:

Delft University of Technology

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Education

University:

The University of British Columbia - Okanagan

Program: