Spatial structures of wind farms: Correlation analysis of the generated electrical power

We investigate the interaction of many wind turbines in a wind farm with a focus on their electrical power production. The operational data of two offshore wind farms with a ten minute and a ten second time resolution, respectively, are analyzed. For the correlations of the active power between turbines over the entire wind farms, we find a dominant collective behavior. We manage to subtract the collective behavior and find a significant dependence of the correlation structure on the spatial structure of the wind farms. We further show a connection between the observed correlation structures and the prevailing wind direction. We attribute the differences between the two wind farms to the differences in the turbine spacing within the two wind farms. • Correlation of generated electrical power is dominated by collective behavior. • Singular value decomposition efficiently identifies and removes collective behavior. • Spatial structures emerge when collective behavior is accounted for. • Approach is suitable for a large number of existing layouts. • Reasonable effort and no further data requirements besides measured data.