Noise Propagation Calculations of a Wind Turbine in Complex Terrain

This paper describes numerical noise propagation calculations of a single wind turbine in complex terrain near a town in Central Denmark. The purpose of the work is to estimate the noise level at increasing distances from a single wind turbine and investigate the effect of complex terrain. Results indicate that time varying numerical noise propagation predictions of wind turbines in complex terrain can be achieved by using computational fluid dynamics via large-eddy simulation (LES) and the Technical University of Denmark's noise propagation tool based on the parabolic equation. The wind turbine is modeled using the actuator line approach. The results from this project will have significant social, environmental, and economic impact, since accurate predictions of wind turbine noise propagation can be used to develop noise mitigation strategies to increase the public acceptance of wind energy.