Cloud-based micrositing of small wind turbines
Wind flow in urban areas is challenging to characterize due to factors like turbulence and complex urban geography. A price-competitive cloud-based tool was developed to integrate factors for optimal turbine placement, using GIS, NWP, CFD, and analytics software.
Start date: 01/11/2015
Duration in months: 18
Problem Description
Wind flow over urban areas is very difficult to characterize. This is due to a number of factors, such as high turbulence and other strong effects created by complex urban geography. When placing wind turbines, it is critical that the exact flow pattern of the area is well understood.
Goals
Simulation
Challenges
Current urban wind assessment tools are costly in relation to the cost of a small wind turbine. It can take up to a year and cost €12,000 to carry out the necessary measurements, which can easily double the cost of placing a single turbine.
Innovation results
A tool was developed to calculate optimal turbine placement using GIS, NWP, CFD, and analytics software. HPC was chosen due to complexity. A cloud-based solution was chosen for cost-effective access. The tool can model 2 km2 urban areas for €1,500-€2,000, saving 15 days of computation.
Business impact
The tool will help KLiUX determine the most suitable turbine size model for each installation site. nablaDot plans to use the technology commercially, aiming for an annual turnover of €150,000 and job creation. The experiment also provided UNIZAR-BIFI with experience with multi-workflow solutions.