DTU and Vattenfall Engage in Shadow Effect Mission

DTU Wind Energy and Vattenfall are working together to investigate how offshore wind farms should be positioned so they do not “steal” the wind from each other.

“If you do not think strategically about the location of the major wind farms in the future, then they could cause a reduction in electricity production from other wind farms located nearby,” Project Manager at DTU Wind Energy, Xiaoli Guo Larsén, said.

The reason that this occurs is the so-called shadow effect, DTU said, adding that when a wind turbine is hit by the wind and exploits that energy to produce electricity, there will be less wind behind the turbine. Therefore, the rearward turbines will produce less energy, which can be the case with wind farms, as well.

According to DTU, the calculation methods used today take the shadow effect inside a wind farm into account, but the two parties will expand the calculation method with two additional components, including the shadow effect from nearby wind farms and ocean surface parameters such as waves, which are important in order to get the most out of new wind farms in the future.

The OffshoreWake project, which will be completed in April 2020, will also investigate how the shadow action between the major farms will affect the planning and operation of the electricity system.

“We are constantly working to develop more precise methods for estimating production from offshore wind farms. The ‘OffshoreWake’ project should make us even better at predicting how much two wind farms affect one another. This will reduce uncertainty and make it easier to make investment decisions,” said Ylva Odemark, Research Director of Wind Power at Vattenfall.