Wind shear usage in wind power generation

Does shear affect wind speed?

Even before turbines extended beyond 100 m above the surface, some researchers pointed out the effects of shear on the shape of wind speed profiles and therefore turbine power production. Because of shear and veer, hub-height wind speeds alone may not be representative of the flow over the entire rotor disk.

Does wind shear reduce energy production?

Analysis of data from a US Great Plains wind plant suggests that wind shear defined by a power law coefficient α greater than 0.2 reduces annual energy production (AEP) by approximately 1.1–1.2%, depending on wind speed (Rareshide et al. (2009).

What is the speed shear range of a wind turbine?

Most observations within this speed shear range took place between 6.5 and 8 m s −1 (Fig. 12), corresponding to the most affected turbine performance–speed regimes. On the other hand, highly stratified atmospheric conditions, characterized by large speed shear (), evidenced statistically distinct power differences for larger wind speeds (Fig. 15b).

Can wind shear coefficient be used to predict energy production?

In general the value 0.143 for wind shear coefficient is used to predict the wind at the higher elevation, which gives good results over smooth surfaces such as at sea . The objective of this work was to compare the energy production estimates from power law extrapolation of 65 m data to 120 m agl with the measured data for 120 m agl. 2.

Does directional wind shear influence turbine operation?

Larger directional wind shear thresholds for the former cases suggested analogous underperformance; however, the mechanical turbulence that usually accompanies large speed shear may have influenced turbine operation as well. These results prove direction shear to be an important factor that influences turbine operation.

How does speed shear affect turbine power depletion?

For a given value of speed shear, as quantified in 0.1 power law exponent intervals, increasing the directional shear resulted in turbine power depletion at this wind farm (Fig. 14).