Wind Turbine Micrositing: Comparison of Finite Difference Method and Computational Fluid Dynamics

For smooth and optimal operation of wind turbines the location of wind turbines in wind farm is critical. Parameters that need to be considered for micrositing of wind turbines are topographic effect and wind effect. The location under consideration for wind farm is Gharo, Sindh, Pakistan. Several techniques are being researched for finding the most optimal location for wind turbines. These techniques are based on linear and nonlinear mathematical models. In this paper wind pressure distribution and its effect on wind turbine on the wind farm are considered. This study is conducted to compare the mathematical model; Finite Difference Method with a computational fluid dynamics software results. Finally the results of two techniques are compared for micrositing of wind turbines and found that finite difference method is not applicable for wind turbine micrositing.