Spatial constraints in large-scale expansion of wind power plants
Enrico G. A. Antonini, Ken Caldeira
Abstract
Significance Wind comprised 6.1% of worldwide electricity generation in 2020. If this share is to substantially grow to decarbonize electricity systems, the size of future wind farms may extend far beyond that of current installations. The spatial scale of a wind farm affects both its mean generation per unit of land and the extension of wake shadowing on neighboring plants. As spatial scales increase, mean generation decreases and wake extension increases. Here, we characterize spatial constraints in the large-scale expansion of wind power plants to address the following: 1) How large a wind farm can be before its generation reaches energy replenishment limits, and 2) How far apart large wind farms must be spaced to avoid inter–wind-farm interference.