Analysis of WAsP (Wind Atlas Analysis and Application Program) in complex topographical conditions using measured production from a large scale wind farm.

Abstract

The wind energy industry is leading the charge for renewable energy in the United States. In 2012, 13,124 MW of wind power capacity was installed, almost double that of 2011. The micro-model analysis of wind farms in the pre-construction phase is vital to ensure the feasibility of every project. As wind farms take advantage of increased wind speeds due to complex topographical features, their modeling becomes more complicated and expensive. WAsP is a linear numerical model that has become an industry standard for wind farm siting in Europe. It uses topographical inputs along with on-site meteorology data, to project wind speed and direction, over a pre-defined grid. The accuracy of WAsP was examined for both un-edited and WAsP recommended user-defined alterations to the wind speed at hub height, at all sites. The unedited projections yielded the lowest deviations for the net annual production (-1.2%), whereas user corrections significantly over or underestimated power production. Some sites within the wind farm layout had over-estimations of wind speed, both due to ruggedness of the terrain and close proximity to forests. WAsP shows significant promise in projections across the grid layout. A combination of unedited and user corrections is recommended for future analysis for wind farm siting.