Optimization of wind turbine location in urban environment

Abstract

Making energy clean, reliable and readily available is essential for fighting climate change and to supply an ever-rising global power demand. The aim of the study is to identify optimal locations for a wind turbine to be joined to a small-scale hybrid system at the main campus of UiT – The Arctic University of Norway. To identify feasible areas for maximizing electric power production, techniques originating from two quite different disciplines are utilized: Geographical Information System and Computational Fluid Dynamics. Local weather data and detailed 3D-models are used as inputs to the wind simulations. Two optimal wind turbine locations are proposed with the following UTM-33N coordinates: (654053 – 7735418) at Realfagsbygget and (653410 - 7736185) at Grønnåsen. To further study the power production capability at Grønnåsen wind sensors were installed in the Avinor mast, 200 m east of the suggested optimal location. Here the average wind speed and power density at 21 m above ground level was calculated to be 4.22 m/s and 135.4 W/m^2 corresponding to the period of mid-February to mid-May 2017. For both the suggested optimal locations of a wind turbine, more weather data is necessary to accurately estimate the annual wind speed and power density averages.