High-Fidelity Wake Modeling for Multi-Turbine Optimization in Complex Terrain: A Review

• Solomon A. ONAZI

  Author

• Patrick U. OKORIE

  Author

• Adamu S. ABUBAKAR

  Author

• Ibrahim ABDULWAHAB

  Author

Wake interactions between turbines are a primary constraint on wind farm energy yield and structural reliability, and this constraint is magnified in complex terrain where topography drives speed-up, channeling, and flow separation that classical wake models were never designed to capture. This paper reviews the state of the art in wind turbine wake modeling and multi-turbine optimization, tracing the field's progression from simplified engineering models (Jensen, Gaussian) through high-fidelity large eddy simulation (LES), toward multi-fidelity and data-driven surrogate frameworks. The review synthesizes findings on wake fundamentals, wake-wake interactions, wake steering as a control strategy, LES-based simulation, multi-fidelity and surrogate modeling, terrain and atmospheric-stability effects, and optimization strategies balancing energy yield against structural loads. A synthesis table condenses the methods, findings, and limitations of representative studies published between 2020 and 2025. The review concludes by identifying a persistent gap: the absence of a scalable, high-fidelity wake model integrated directly into a multi-turbine optimization framework for complex terrain, and outlines how closing this gap can improve energy capture, extend turbine service life, and reduce the levelized cost of energy.

• 65_Onazi et al. (2026)

Copyright (c) 2026 Solomon A. ONAZI, Patrick U. OKORIE, Adamu S. ABUBAKAR, Ibrahim ABDULWAHAB (Author)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.