Partner Article

Recruiting to improve energy yield optimisation

“One important factor for designing a wind farm is its layout, or how the turbines are positioned relative to each other,” says Yu-Ting Wu, a PhD student at EPFL’s Wind Engineering and Renewable Energy Laboratory (WIRE).

Optimising the design of wind turbine layout can greatly increase the overall efficiency of a wind farm. Not only can a well planned wind farm lead to increased energy yield but the environmental impact of the wind farm can be reduced.

Research carried out at EPFL’s Wind Engineering and Renewable Energy Laboratory (WIRE) compared the results from a numerical simulation of the wind at a wind farm, through a wind tunnel experiment, focusing specifically on where the wind turbines were placed within the wind farm.

Researchers found that simply changing the wind farm from a square grid can increase the total efficiency of the wind farm, giving the wind more time to recover after it has passed through the first wind turbine.

Additionally, a new Carbon Trust Project 290km off the coast of the UK is set to provide detailed measurement data to the wind industry that aims to increase insight in to how wind behaves in complex situations offshore and thus assist the industry in improving prediction accuracy, reducing financing costs and optimising offshore windfarm layouts.

At Allen & York we are witnessing an increase in the recruitment of Resource Analysts and Technical Planners for onshore and offshore wind; whereby professionals with GIS and AutoCad skills are able to take on responsibility for Turbine Layout design, utilising technical, development and engineering experience to assess site conditions and turbine suitability.

Furthermore, taking into account the environmental impact of a wind farm, planning depends on zoning requirements such as hub height restrictions and sound emission levels which have to be considered to obtain official approval.

Anticipated turbulence is also a factor to consider in optimising the use of a site, as this will have a major impact on farm efficiency, and Technical Planners are also required to have skills and experience across these disciplines. Resource Analysts would also have an understanding of how spacing is important in measuring anticipated turbulence.

The higher the level of turbulence, the further apart the wind turbines need to be. Spacing not only contributes to the stability of the wind turbine but also helps to avoid wake turbulence.

Allen & York regularly recruit technical professionals, where they will be in charge of optimising wind farm layouts in terms of the turbines stability, sound power levels, shadow casting and yield – key factors for feasibility studies. To discuss your recruitment requirements contact the Allen & York Renewable Energy Group at www.allen-york.com or call 0844 371 8986

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Vicky Kenrick .