Modules

The other WindFarmer modules require the Base and Energy Module and offer further advanced options.

The Base and Energy Module includes:

• Wind farm energy yield calculation
• Integrated wind flow modelling and control of WAsP
• Download of worldwide map data, and import of a wide range of commonly used map formats
• Definition of wind farm boundaries, exclusion zones and set-back distances from boundaries. Wind farms can span several separate areas 
• Advanced energy calculation options (e.g. use of the measured wind distribution, turbine specific air density, sector management, wake loss and turbulence adjustments) 
• Advanced wind farm wake loss modelling using GL Garrad Hassan’s own CFD model - a fast RANS solver with Eddy Viscosity turbulence closure 
• Cutting edge model for boundary layer effects in large wind farms 
• Calibration of output to match performance data from existing wind farms
• Displacement height adjustment to wind profile
• Uncertainty analysis with exceedence levels for the net energy yield (P90, P75, etc.) 
• Compatible with wind resource data from other software 
• Noise impact modelling according to current international standards 
• Energy, wind speed, noise and ground slope maps 
• Automatic layout optimisation to design a wind farm with maximum energy yield that meets environmental constraints
• Separate and cumulative analysis of multiple wind farms

The results of your analysis are exported to Microsoft Word^TM, Microsoft Excel^TM and plain text formats for maximum convenience.

 

 

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The module provides you with a number of different methods:

• ZVI, for a single wind farm or the cumulative effect of several wind farms. Options include visibility of tips, hubs, vertical subtended angle, horizontal subtended angle, total visibility of wind farm.
  
• Radar ZVI, helps the user to plan a wind farm in order to avoid radar interference. Maps possible areas of conflict and visualises the effect of the wind farm.
  
• Virtual representation of the wind farm from a viewpoint using solid and transparent wire-frames allows the user to see turbines even behind a hill.
  
• Rendered landscape, lighting and fog, curvature of the earth and panoramic view for a realistic wind farm simulation. The turbines can be superimposed on aerial or satellite photos draped over the terrain.
  
• Animated or still photomontages of high quality
  
• Animated virtual fly through of your wind farm
• Export of wind farm to Google Earth

The Visualisation Module also enables visual constraints to be imposed on the site allowing users to monitor and control the visual aspect of a wind farm throughout the layout design and automatic optimisation process.

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To enable you to process raw measured data, MCP+ will:

• Load time series wind measurements from a range of data file formats 
• Recalibrate the data 
• Display data as time series and scatter plots
• Inspect and clean the data with the interactive plotter 
• Easily identify and exclude periods of corrupt data
• Print and export plots, data listings and reports 
• Analyse data in 12, 16, 18 or 36 direction sectors 
• Extract turbulence intensity values relative to wind speed and direction (also requires Turbulence Intensity module) 
• Create WAsP TAB format frequency distributions 
• Present wind rose plots from time series or frequency distribution data 
• Perform Measure Correlate Predict (MCP) analysis where concurrent reference station and site measurements are available 
• Predict long term site data from the results of the MCP analysis. Output as frequency distribution or wind rose

The resulting long term distributions are documented and output in WAsP compatible TAB file format or ASCII time series.

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The ambient turbulence can be modelled as a function of wind speed, wind direction or both wind speed and direction (see also MCP+ Module in this regard).

Below are some of the channels that can be output in the Turbulence Intensity Module for each turbine for every wind speed and direction:

• Wind turbine power
• Incident wind speed relative to measured wind speed
• Ambient wind speed and turbulence
• Estimate of load equivalent design turbulence levels
• Wake affected wind speed and turbulence

The detailed data from this module enables the user to compare the expected wind farm output for each wind speed and direction with the prediction, such as for a wind farm performance warranty. Also provided is a direct link to load calculations with our Bladed software. less

Any existing spreadsheet containing a wind farm costing or financial model can be loaded and dynamically linked to elements within the Base Module.

These dynamic elements are:

• Number of turbines
• Energy yield
• Cable length
• Number of transformers
• Road length

Any changes made to the wind farm layout are automatically updated in the financial window. The financial function can then be used as the target during layout optimisation. The module includes ready-to-use costing and financial model example spreadsheets.

With the WindFarmer Finance Module, it is possible to quickly determine the impact on the economic viability of a wind energy project for a range of factors.

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Specifically it will:

• Check for overloading of transformers, cables and lines
• Calculate the size of capacitor/reactor banks needed to correct the power factor at a particular point, referred to as power factor correction devices, or PFCDs
• Calculate lengths of underground cables and overhead lines, taking topography and gradients into account
• Calculate electrical losses for cables, lines and transformers.
• Calculate annual reactive power production and consumption for turbines, cables, transformers, lines, PFCDs and their annual value.

The Electrical Module has a user friendly, intuitive interface, and the properties of the different components are stored in a Library file, which can be updated and consulted as required. less

The module allows you to:

• Determine the accurate shadow flicker effect for a particular year 
• Create maps of shadow flicker occurrence on an annual or daily basis 
• Generate graphs showing the time of day of occurrence
• Analyse the shadow flicker at specific receptor points, of given elevation and orientation 
• Identify the shadow flicker periods from each turbine onto each receptor 
• Automatically correct for True North – Grid North deviation 
• Use the topography as an alternative to the simplified flat terrain assumption 
• Represent the turbine rotor as a sphere or a disk 
• Consider the offset and orientation between turbine rotor and tower 
• Model the sun as a point or a disc

The algorithm used in the Shadow Flicker Module operates with high precision, delivering the output required so that a SCADA control system, such as GL Garrad Hassan’s WindHelm, can be set, if required, to stop the turbines for a few minutes a day before shadow flicker becomes a nuisance. less