LARGE-EDDY SIMULATION OF OFFSHORE WIND FARMS FOR POWER PREDICTION

Offshore wind turbines are mega structures that span a critical section of the lowest part of atmospheric boundary layer while experiencing significant wind shear. A detailed knowledge of the wind field through a wind farm as part of the atmospheric boundary layer is essential to design efficient farm layouts and estimate power production for grid integration. To address these needs, we present a micro-scale wind prediction model based on a large-eddy simulation paradigm. We consider actuator disk models with and without rotation to simulate the influence of turbines on the wind field and apply our computational capability to the well-known Horns Rev offshore wind farm in Denmark to estimate power production. Instead of using manufacturers power curve to estimate power production, we propose an alternative approach based on the control volume analysis of kinetic energy conservation around turbines.