ATMOSFARM project

Forecast studies for the siting of offshore wind farms use engineering models to consider the interactions of wind turbines with each other. The representation obtained of these phenomena remains incomplete, while important issues are linked to this configuration. In particular, the wind observed at the turbines located in the wake of other wind turbines is strongly disturbed.

The ATMOSFARM project is presented as a logical continuation of the WEAMEC project ECOSFARM. During the ECOSFARM project, a coupling has been carried out between the Navier-Stokes solver Grid-flow (former WCCH) and the wind turbine simulation tool FAST developped by the NREL. The tool obtained makes it possible to obtain a fine representation of the flows within a wind farm. A proof of concept was performed on a small scale case, where very promising results were obtained. However, before being able to simulate wind farms in real conditions, it is necessary to take into account a realistic distribution of the wind and its evolution within the park.

During the ATMOSFARM project, Grid-flow will be optimized and interfaced with the LES code of the NCAR. This coupling will make it possible to simulate various realistic atmospheric environments. When used with FAST, full scale wind farm simulations can be performed. The developments carried out within the framework of this project will make the Grid-flow / FAST coupling more efficient, and provide an additional step forward for the CFD simulation wind farms.

> Read more about the ATMOSFARM project