Why does the terrain affect the turbine’s production?
Terrain affects turbine production in two ways. First, average annual wind speeds at the site are reduced due to wind being slowed down by terrain obstacles (vegetation, buildings, topographic features, etc.). Lower wind speeds observed at the turbine correspond to less energy production. The wind resource maps associated with the Small windExplorer accounts for the average terrain roughness for the given 200 m grid cell. Second, the turbine’s efficiency will decrease due to local obstacles and terrain that increase turbulence. Turbulence is a measure of the irregularity of the wind’s flow.
