Sound power of onshore wind turbines and its spectral distribution

Frits (G.P.)  van den Berg; Erik  Koppen; Jaap  Boon; Madelon  Ekelschot-Smink

doi:10.59400/sv1716

Frits (G.P.) van den Berg Mundonovo sound research, 7514 CV Enschede, Netherlands
Erik Koppen Arcadis Nederland B.V., 6814 CM Arnhem, Netherlands
Jaap Boon Arcadis Nederland B.V., 6814 CM Arnhem, Netherlands
Madelon Ekelschot-Smink Arcadis Nederland B.V., 6814 CM Arnhem, Netherlands

Article ID: 1716

DOI: https://doi.org/10.59400/sv1716

Keywords: wind turbine; sound power; acoustic production; serrations; environmental sound level

Abstract

Wind turbines (WTs) have grown substantially in size and electric capacity over the past decades. The sound power of WTs was reported to increase over time in relation to their electric power and thus over time WTs have become louder. Because of the expected ongoing growth of onshore wind energy, a greater number of people will be living close to wind farms. This sustains the need for sound reduction. Sound reduction measures, such as serrations, reduced tip speed and low noise modes, may counteract the development of higher sound power levels from ever bigger WTs. To investigate this, the sound production of WT types over the last decades is analyzed in relation to their size and electric power and the application of sound reduction measures. The analysis includes the broad band A-weighted and low frequency sound power levels as well as more detailed spectral distributions. Results show that the sound power level of wind turbines above 3 MW on average increases less with size than smaller turbines did. This is due to a lower increase in blade tip speed. The application of trailing edge serrations (TES) on average leads to a reduction in sound power level of 2.4 dB which may be slightly less at residential locations. Though TES tend to reduce the higher frequencies, the average spectral distribution of the sound did not change significantly over time, probably because of the relatively large differences between individual WT types. As a consequence, the relative low frequency content of WT sound on average has not changed.

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