Optimising land use for wind farms

The optimal scales and densities for wind turbine arrays are examined from the perspective of maximising power density, defined as power per unit area of land occupied. This is different from the usual aim of minimising the cost of electricity production but could become increasingly important if available sites for wind farms become a limiting factor in their construction.A simple model is used to calculate the theoretical maximum power densities available from various configurations of wind turbine array, taking into account the wake effect. The effects of array size, turbine separation and perimeter set-back are investigated.It is observed that a wind farm designed to maximise power production per unit area of land could be very different from one designed to maximise economic gain.

► We discuss features of wind farms that maximise power per unit land area. ► We consider array size, spacing, set-back and wake effects. ► Turbines in denser, larger arrays provide less power, but take up less space. ► Wind farms optimised for land use may not resemble those optimised for cost.