Examining the influence of upwide farm geometries on wind farm cluster wakes*

The move towards large-scale deployment of offshore wind farms within the outer continental shelf of the U.S. Atlantic Coast raises many questions regarding how to maximally harness offshore wind energy resources. Two important elements in this regard are the arrangement of individual wind turbines in an array and the siting of entire wind farms with respect to each other. While much research has been devoted to understanding the former, relatively little has been learned about the latter. Understanding how wind farm wakes interact with each other in the realistic atmospheric conditions and geometric configurations of the Atlantic Coast is a crucial step towards optimizing our offshore wind energy systems. In this study, we employ high-fidelity, turbulence-resolving large eddy simulations to investigate factors that may impact the collective annual energy power production of offshore wind farms. Such factors include an individual array's geometry as well as intra-array parameters such as wind turbine spacing. Finally, we calculate the evolution of mechanical kinetic energy within and between farms to better understand the recovery mechanisms of long wakes as well as the potential impact on performance of downstream wind farms.