Effect of lateral spacing on output power of offshore wind turbines in different turbulence environments

Optimization of turbine spacing is critical for minimizing wake effects and improving the overall output power of an offshore wind farm. While previous studies have primarily focused on the optimization of longitudinal spacing, recent findings suggest that lateral spacing also significantly influences the output power of wind turbines. However, the existing studies relied on small-scale wind tunnel tests and did not consider different turbulence environments when evaluating the effect of lateral spacing. To address this gap, this study investigates the effect of lateral spacing on the output power of utility-scale offshore wind turbines under different turbulence environments. Large eddy simulation (LES) coupled with the discretizing and synthesizing random flow generation (DSRFG) method is used to investigate turbine performance under four turbulence conditions defined by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standard. Two turbine layouts (i.e., aligned and staggered arrangements) are considered with different longitudinal and lateral spacings. The results indicate that reducing lateral spacing can improve the output power of a wind turbine by around 3 %–17 % compared to that in arrangements without adjacent turbines in the lateral direction, particularly under lower turbulence environments. The optimal lateral spacing generally lies between 1.5D and 2D, where D is rotor diameter. These findings highlight the potential of reduced lateral spacing to increase energy production and conserve marine space.