Correcting Yaw Errors and Measuring the Improved Power Curves
It is an all too common sight: turbines in a wind farm pointing in different directions. This means, of course, that some of the turbines will be operating with a significant yaw misalignment. This in turn causes loss of energy production and higher fatigue loads. The obvious explanation is that the flow pattern where the vane for yaw control is positioned (usually at the back of the nacelle) has been disturbed by the upstream rotor and by the proximity of the nacelle. Other reasons may be that the instruments are not aligned properly, or may simply be of quite poor quality. There are, at present, only two technologies capable of measuring the yaw misalignment correctly – a nacelle-mounted lidar and the Spinner Anemometer. In this article we demonstrate that the Spinner Anemometer has some very obvious advantages related to cost, data quality and robustness. We will be reporting on our experience of testing the instrument for measurements of yaw misalignment and power curve improvements.
By Jørgen Højstrup, Jesper Degn Nielsen and Jens Lund Lauritsen, ROMO Wind, Denmark
It is an all too common sight: turbines in a wind farm pointing in different directions. This means, of course, that some of the turbines will be operating with a significant yaw misalignment. This in turn causes loss of energy production and higher fatigue loads. The obvious explanation is that the flow pattern where the vane for yaw control is positioned (usually at the back of the nacelle) has been disturbed by the upstream rotor and by the proximity of the nacelle. Other reasons may be that the instruments are not aligned properly, or may simply be of quite poor quality. There are, at present, only two technologies capable of measuring the yaw misalignment correctly – a nacelle-mounted lidar and the Spinner Anemometer. In this article we demonstrate that the Spinner Anemometer has some very obvious advantages related to cost, data quality and robustness. We will be reporting on our experience of testing the instrument for measurements of yaw misalignment and power curve improvements.By Jørgen Højstrup, Jesper Degn Nielsen and Jens Lund Lauritsen, ROMO Wind, Denmark
