Rotor equivalent wind speed for power curve measurement - comparative exercise for IEA Wind Annex 32

A comparative exercise has been organised within the International Energy Agency (IEA) Wind Annex 32 in order to test the Rotor Equivalent Wind Speed (REWS) method under various conditions of wind shear and measurement techniques. Eight organisations from five countries participated in the exercise. Each member of the group has derived both the power curve based on the wind speed at hub height and the power curve based on the REWS. This yielded results for different wind turbines, located in diverse types of terrain and where the wind speed profile was measured with different instruments (mast or various lidars). The participants carried out two preliminary steps in order to reach consensus on how to implement the REWS method. First, they all derived the REWS for one 10 minute wind speed profile. Secondly, they all derived the power curves for one dataset. The main point requiring consensus was the definition of the segment area used as weighting for the wind speeds measured at the various heights in the calculation of the REWS. This comparative exercise showed that the REWS method results in a significant difference compared to the standard method using the wind speed at hub height in conditions with large shear and low turbulence intensity.