Dual-Doppler measurements of a wind ramp event at an Oklahoma wind plant

An observational case study of a wind ramp event at Enel Green Power North America's wind plant in Oklahoma is presented. Using coordinated measurements collected by the Texas Tech University Ka-band radars, dual-Doppler-synthesized wind fields are merged with data from a meteorological tower and 32 operational turbines to document the evolution and impact of the wind ramp on turbine behavior and performance over a 1h period. During the event, average power output for turbines within the dual-Doppler analysis domain increases from 18.3% of capacity to 98.9% of capacity, emphasizing the abrupt impact wind ramp events can have on the electrical grid. The presented measurements and analyses highlight the insights remote sensing technologies can offer towards documenting transient wind ramps and assisting modeling efforts used to forecast such events. Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.