Physical modeling application to wind power assessment for wind farm installation in complex topography terrain

Abstract

Wind power assessment and micro sitting in complex terrain zones using physical modeling technique was developed. For the wind power assessment the physical modeling is used jointly with a numerical model in a nest configuration. The wind velocity field in a coarse grid with a mass conservative model is deduced from data obtained in weather station. This velocity field calculated is the boundary condition for the physical model. Velocity mean and turbulent component are estimated with a difference lower than 5% in the mean velocity and intensity of turbulence. For micro sitting application, the physical modeling results jointly with field measurement are used. The physical modeling results give an idea for optimize the wind generator distribution because a very good flow description is obtained relating to different terrain features.