Turbulence characteristics in offshore wind farms from LES simulations of Lillgrund wind farm

The effect of wind turbine wakes in large offshore wind energy arrays can be a substantial factor in affecting the performance of turbines inside the array. Turbulent mixing plays a key role in the wake recovery, having a significant effect on the length over which the wake is strong enough to affect the performance of other turbines significantly. We highlight how turbulence affects wind turbine wakes using results from LES simulations of Lillgrund offshore wind farm in the context of SCADA data selected to mirror the wind conditions simulated. The analysis here concentrated on temporal spectra of wind velocities measured by the turbine's nacelle anemometer and calculated at the turbine locations in the computational model. The effect of the wind turbine rotor on the downstream flow is quantified by analysing the change in spectral features of turbines within the wind farm compared to turbines at the side of the farm exposed to the wind.