Optimal wind farm locations require a strong and reliable wind resource and access to transmission lines. As onshore and offshore wind energy grows, preferred locations become saturated with numerous wind farms. An upwind wind farm generates ‘wake effects’ (decreases in downwind wind speeds) that undermine a downwind wind farm’s power generation and revenues. Here we use a diverse set of analysis tools from the atmospheric science, economic and legal communities to assess costs and consequences of these wake effects, focusing on a West Texas case study. We show that although wake effects vary with atmospheric conditions, they are discernible in monthly power production. In stably stratified atmospheric conditions, wakes can extend 50+ km downwind, resulting in economic losses of several million dollars over six years for our case study. However, our investigation of the legal literature shows no legal guidance for protecting existing wind farms from such significant impacts.

最佳的风电场位置需要强大而可靠的风资源，并需要使用输电线路。随着陆上和海上风能的增长，首选地点已被众多风电场饱和。上风电场会产生“唤醒效应”（顺风风速降低），从而削弱了下风电场的发电量和收入。在这里，我们使用来自大气科学，经济和法律界的各种分析工具来评估这些尾迹效应的成本和后果，重点是西德克萨斯案例研究。我们表明，尽管尾流效应随大气条件而变化，但在每月的发电量中它们是可辨别的。在稳定的分层大气条件下，尾流可以向顺风方向延伸50+ km，在我们的案例研究中，六年之内造成数百万美元的经济损失。然而，