Modelling of offshore wind turbine wakes with the wind farm program FLaP

The wind farm layout program FLaP (Farm Layout Program) estimates the wind speed at any point in a wind farm and the power output of the turbines. The ambient flow conditions and the properties of the turbines and the farm are used as input. The core of the program is an axis-symmetric wake model, describing the wake behind one rotor. Here an approach based on the simplified Reynolds equation with an eddy-viscosity closure is chosen. The single wake model is combined with a model for the vertical wind speed profile and a wind farm model, which takes care of the interaction of all wakes in a wind farm. The wake model has been extended to improve the description of wake development in offshore conditions, especially the low ambient turbulence and the effect of atmospheric stability. Model results are compared with measurements from the Danish offshore wind farm Vindeby. Vertical wake profiles and mean turbulence intensities in the wake are compared for single, double and quintuple wake cases with different mean wind speed, turbulence intensity and atmospheric stability. It is found that within the measurement uncertainties the results of the wake model compare well with the measurements for the most important ambient conditions. The effect of the low turbulence intensity offshore on the wake development is modelled well for the Vindeby wind farm. Deviations are found when atmospheric stability deviates from near-neutral conditions. For stable atmospheric conditions both the free vertical wind speed profile and the wake profile are not modelled satisfactorily.