Natural Power has delivered energy yield, site assessment and wind turbine comparison studies on two proposed wind farms in Thailand for the purposes of future project financing.
Natural Power worked collaboratively with OWL Energy (OWL) and the Association of South East Asian Nation’s (ASEAN), to assess the technical and financial viability of the 60MW Huai Bong and Greenovation projects, and to confirm the suitability of the projects with respect to the proposed turbines. The projects brought new challenges given the low wind velocities typical in Thailand. Natural Power’s wind technical expertise, supported by their research in flow modelling, brought extra credibility and depth to the analysis. vuWind, Natural Power’s in-house wind data software, allowed a wide range of tests to be carried out with respect to long-term correction and time-series based shear and turbulence extrapolation. A sound flow model formed the basis for a layout optimisation that utilises the advantages of the local topography, turbine characteristics and the prevailing wind regime to maximise the wind farm’s output. The ground-based reference data was enhanced by the use of validated meso-scale models, the use of which Natural Power has pioneered as a valid, stable reference source for long-term corrections. Site classification studies were also carried out to predict extremes of resource and flow characteristics for design decisions and turbine and device warranty considerations.
