WorldWideScience

Sample records for wind resource assessments

  1. Mongolia wind resource assessment project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Elliott, D.; Chadraa, B.; Natsagdorj, L.

    1998-01-01

    The development of detailed, regional wind-resource distributions and other pertinent wind resource characteristics (e.g., assessment maps and reliable estimates of seasonal, diurnal, and directional) is an important step in planning and accelerating the deployment of wind energy systems. This paper summarizes the approach and methods being used to conduct a wind energy resource assessment of Mongolia. The primary goals of this project are to develop a comprehensive wind energy resource atlas of Mongolia and to establish a wind measurement program in specific regions of Mongolia to identify prospective sites for wind energy projects and to help validate some of the wind resource estimates. The Mongolian wind resource atlas will include detailed, computerized wind power maps and other valuable wind resource characteristic information for the different regions of Mongolia

  2. Mexico Wind Resource Assessment Project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schwartz, M.N.; Elliott, D.L.

    1995-05-01

    A preliminary wind energy resource assessment of Mexico that produced wind resource maps for both utility-scale and rural applications was undertaken as part of the Mexico-U.S. Renewable Energy Cooperation Program. This activity has provided valuable information needed to facilitate the commercialization of small wind turbines and windfarms in Mexico and to lay the groundwork for subsequent wind resource activities. A surface meteorological data set of hourly data in digital form was utilized to prepare a more detailed and accurate wind resource assessment of Mexico than otherwise would have been possible. Software was developed to perform the first ever detailed analysis of the wind characteristics data for over 150 stations in Mexico. The hourly data set was augmented with information from weather balloons (upper-air data), ship wind data from coastal areas, and summarized wind data from sources in Mexico. The various data were carefully evaluated for their usefulness in preparing the wind resource assessment. The preliminary assessment has identified many areas of good-to-excellent wind resource potential and shows that the wind resource in Mexico is considerably greater than shown in previous surveys.

  3. Wind Resource Assessment of Gujarat (India)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Draxl, C.; Purkayastha, A.; Parker, Z.

    2014-07-01

    India is one of the largest wind energy markets in the world. In 1986 Gujarat was the first Indian state to install a wind power project. In February 2013, the installed wind capacity in Gujarat was 3,093 MW. Due to the uncertainty around existing wind energy assessments in India, this analysis uses the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to simulate the wind at current hub heights for one year to provide more precise estimates of wind resources in Gujarat. The WRF model allows for accurate simulations of winds near the surface and at heights important for wind energy purposes. While previous resource assessments published wind power density, we focus on average wind speeds, which can be converted to wind power densities by the user with methods of their choice. The wind resource estimates in this study show regions with average annual wind speeds of more than 8 m/s.

  4. Offshore Wind Energy Resource Assessment for Alaska

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Doubrawa Moreira, Paula [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Scott, George N. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Musial, Walter D. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Kilcher, Levi F. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Draxl, Caroline [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Lantz, Eric J. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2018-01-02

    This report quantifies Alaska's offshore wind resource capacity while focusing on its unique nature. It is a supplement to the existing U.S. Offshore Wind Resource Assessment, which evaluated the offshore wind resource for all other U.S. states. Together, these reports provide the foundation for the nation's offshore wind value proposition. Both studies were developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The analysis presented herein represents the first quantitative evidence of the offshore wind energy potential of Alaska. The technical offshore wind resource area in Alaska is larger than the technical offshore resource area of all other coastal U.S. states combined. Despite the abundant wind resource available, significant challenges inhibit large-scale offshore wind deployment in Alaska, such as the remoteness of the resource, its distance from load centers, and the wealth of land available for onshore wind development. Throughout this report, the energy landscape of Alaska is reviewed and a resource assessment analysis is performed in terms of gross and technical offshore capacity and energy potential.

  5. Fort Carson Wind Resource Assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Robichaud, R.

    2012-10-01

    This report focuses on the wind resource assessment, the estimated energy production of wind turbines, and economic potential of a wind turbine project on a ridge in the southeastern portion of the Fort Carson Army base.

  6. Wind conditions and resource assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lundtang Petersen, Erik; Troen, Ib

    2012-01-01

    The development of wind power as a competitive energy source requires resource assessment of increasing accuracy and detail (including not only the long-term ‘raw’ wind resource, but also turbulence, shear, and extremes), and in areas of increasing complexity. This in turn requires the use of the...

  7. Wind Resource Assessment – Østerild National Test Centre for Large Wind Turbines

    OpenAIRE

    Hansen, Brian Ohrbeck; Courtney, Michael; Mortensen, Niels Gylling

    2014-01-01

    This report presents a wind resource assessment for the seven test stands at the Østerild National Test Centre for Large Wind Turbines in Denmark. Calculations have been carried out mainly using wind data from three on-site wind lidars. The generalized wind climates applied in the wind resource calculations for the seven test stands are based on correlations between a short period of on-site wind data from the wind lidars with a long-term reference. The wind resource assessment for the seven ...

  8. Assessment of Global Wind Energy Resource Utilization Potential

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, M.; He, B.; Guan, Y.; Zhang, H.; Song, S.

    2017-09-01

    Development of wind energy resource (WER) is a key to deal with climate change and energy structure adjustment. A crucial issue is to obtain the distribution and variability of WER, and mine the suitable location to exploit it. In this paper, a multicriteria evaluation (MCE) model is constructed by integrating resource richness and stability, utilization value and trend of resource, natural environment with weights. The global resource richness is assessed through wind power density (WPD) and multi-level wind speed. The utilizable value of resource is assessed by the frequency of effective wind. The resource stability is assessed by the coefficient of variation of WPD and the frequency of prevailing wind direction. Regression slope of long time series WPD is used to assess the trend of WER. All of the resource evaluation indicators are derived from the atmospheric reanalysis data ERA-Interim with spatial resolution 0.125°. The natural environment factors mainly refer to slope and land-use suitability, which are derived from multi-resolution terrain elevation data 2010 (GMTED 2010) and GlobalCover2009. Besides, the global WER utilization potential map is produced, which shows most high potential regions are located in north of Africa. Additionally, by verifying that 22.22 % and 48.8 9% operational wind farms fall on medium-high and high potential regions respectively, the result can provide a basis for the macroscopic siting of wind farm.

  9. Wind power error estimation in resource assessments.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Osvaldo Rodríguez

    Full Text Available Estimating the power output is one of the elements that determine the techno-economic feasibility of a renewable project. At present, there is a need to develop reliable methods that achieve this goal, thereby contributing to wind power penetration. In this study, we propose a method for wind power error estimation based on the wind speed measurement error, probability density function, and wind turbine power curves. This method uses the actual wind speed data without prior statistical treatment based on 28 wind turbine power curves, which were fitted by Lagrange's method, to calculate the estimate wind power output and the corresponding error propagation. We found that wind speed percentage errors of 10% were propagated into the power output estimates, thereby yielding an error of 5%. The proposed error propagation complements the traditional power resource assessments. The wind power estimation error also allows us to estimate intervals for the power production leveled cost or the investment time return. The implementation of this method increases the reliability of techno-economic resource assessment studies.

  10. Wind power error estimation in resource assessments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodríguez, Osvaldo; Del Río, Jesús A; Jaramillo, Oscar A; Martínez, Manuel

    2015-01-01

    Estimating the power output is one of the elements that determine the techno-economic feasibility of a renewable project. At present, there is a need to develop reliable methods that achieve this goal, thereby contributing to wind power penetration. In this study, we propose a method for wind power error estimation based on the wind speed measurement error, probability density function, and wind turbine power curves. This method uses the actual wind speed data without prior statistical treatment based on 28 wind turbine power curves, which were fitted by Lagrange's method, to calculate the estimate wind power output and the corresponding error propagation. We found that wind speed percentage errors of 10% were propagated into the power output estimates, thereby yielding an error of 5%. The proposed error propagation complements the traditional power resource assessments. The wind power estimation error also allows us to estimate intervals for the power production leveled cost or the investment time return. The implementation of this method increases the reliability of techno-economic resource assessment studies.

  11. NANA Wind Resource Assessment Program Final Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jay Hermanson

    2010-09-23

    NANA Regional Corporation (NRC) of northwest Alaska is located in an area with abundant wind energy resources. In 2007, NRC was awarded grant DE-FG36-07GO17076 by the US Department of Energy's Tribal Energy Program for funding a Wind Resource Assessment Project (WRAP) for the NANA region. The NANA region, including Kotzebue Electric Association (KEA) and Alaska Village Electric Cooperative (AVEC) have been national leaders at developing, designing, building, and operating wind-diesel hybrid systems in Kotzebue (starting in 1996) and Selawik (2002). Promising sites for the development of new wind energy projects in the region have been identified by the WRAP, including Buckland, Deering, and the Kivalina/Red Dog Mine Port Area. Ambler, Shungnak, Kobuk, Kiana, Noorvik & Noatak were determined to have poor wind resources at sites in or very near each community. However, all five of these communities may have better wind resources atop hills or at sites with slightly higher elevations several miles away.

  12. 2016 Offshore Wind Energy Resource Assessment for the United States

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Musial, Walt [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Heimiller, Donna [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Beiter, Philipp [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Scott, George [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Draxl, Caroline [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2016-09-01

    This report, the 2016 Offshore Wind Energy Resource Assessment for the United States, was developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and updates a previous national resource assessment study, and refines and reaffirms that the available wind resource is sufficient for offshore wind to be a large-scale contributor to the nation's electric energy supply.

  13. Planning and Development of Wind Farms: Wind Resource Assessment and Siting

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mortensen, Niels Gylling

    These course notes are intended for the three-week course 45700 Planning and Development of Wind Farms given at the Technical University of Denmark. The purpose of the course notes is to give an introduction to wind resource assessment and siting issues using the WAsP suite of programs....

  14. Planning and Development of Wind Farms: Wind Resource Assessment and Siting

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mortensen, Niels Gylling

    These course notes are intended for the three-week course 46200 Planning and Development of Wind Farms given at the Technical University of Denmark. The purpose of the course notes is to give an introduction to wind resource assessment and siting issues using the WAsP suite of programs....

  15. The wind resource assessment program in Quebec Canada

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kahawita, R.; Bilodeau, L.; Gaudette, M.; Gratton, Y.; Noel, R.; Quach, T.T.

    1982-09-01

    This paper provides an overview of the wind resource assessment programme undertaken by the provincial power utility Hydro-Quebec, in Quebec, Canada. The methodology used in different phases of the project is enunciated and explained and the results discussed. Supplementary studies of airflow over complex terrain using numerical modelling are described and the results evaluated. Since the program is still far from completion, conclusive statements cannot, at this time, be made about the viability of the wind energy resource. However, tentative conclusions are that wind energy as an alternate source of energy for the province is likely to be commerciaally viable since two of the most important requirements viz, the presence of a good wind regime and the availability of suitable land are satisfied in many regions.

  16. Where, when and how much wind is available? A provincial-scale wind resource assessment for China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    He, Gang; Kammen, Daniel M.

    2014-01-01

    China's wind installed capacity has grown at a remarkable rate, over 80% annually average growth since 2005, reaching 91.5 GW of capacity by end of 2013, accounting for over 27% of global capacity. This rapid growth has been the result of a domestic manufacturing base and favorable national policies. Further evolution will be greatly aided with a detailed wind resource assessment that incorporates spatial and temporal variability across China. We utilized 200 representative locations for which 10 years of hourly wind speed data exist to develop provincial capacity factors from 2001 to 2010, and to build analytic wind speed profiles. From these data and analysis we find that China's annual wind generation could reach 2000 TWh to 3500 TWh. Nationally this would correspond to an average capacity factor of 0.18. The diurnal and seasonal variation shows spring and winter has better wind resources than in the summer and fall. A highly interconnected and coordinated power system is needed to effectively exploit this large but variable resource. A full economic assessment of exploitable wind resources demands a larger, systems-level analysis of China's energy options, for which this work is a core requirement. - Highlights: • We assessed China's wind resources by utilizing 10 years of hourly wind speed data of 200 sites. • We built provincial scale wind speed profiles and develop provincial capacity factors for China. • We found that China's wind generation could reach 2000 TWh to 3500 TWh annually. • We observed similar temporal variation pattern of wind availability across China

  17. Wind Resource and Feasibility Assessment Report for the Lummi Reservation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    DNV Renewables (USA) Inc.; J.C. Brennan & Associates, Inc.; Hamer Environmental L.P.

    2012-08-31

    This report summarizes the wind resource on the Lummi Indian Reservation (Washington State) and presents the methodology, assumptions, and final results of the wind energy development feasibility assessment, which included an assessment of biological impacts and noise impacts.

  18. An Improved Global Wind Resource Estimate for Integrated Assessment Models: Preprint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Eurek, Kelly [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Sullivan, Patrick [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Gleason, Michael [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Hettinger, Dylan [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Heimiller, Donna [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Lopez, Anthony [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2017-02-01

    This paper summarizes initial steps to improving the robustness and accuracy of global renewable resource and techno-economic assessments for use in integrated assessment models. We outline a method to construct country-level wind resource supply curves, delineated by resource quality and other parameters. Using mesoscale reanalysis data, we generate estimates for wind quality, both terrestrial and offshore, across the globe. Because not all land or water area is suitable for development, appropriate database layers provide exclusions to reduce the total resource to its technical potential. We expand upon estimates from related studies by: using a globally consistent data source of uniquely detailed wind speed characterizations; assuming a non-constant coefficient of performance for adjusting power curves for altitude; categorizing the distance from resource sites to the electric power grid; and characterizing offshore exclusions on the basis of sea ice concentrations. The product, then, is technical potential by country, classified by resource quality as determined by net capacity factor. Additional classifications dimensions are available, including distance to transmission networks for terrestrial wind and distance to shore and water depth for offshore. We estimate the total global wind generation potential of 560 PWh for terrestrial wind with 90% of resource classified as low-to-mid quality, and 315 PWh for offshore wind with 67% classified as mid-to-high quality. These estimates are based on 3.5 MW composite wind turbines with 90 m hub heights, 0.95 availability, 90% array efficiency, and 5 MW/km2 deployment density in non-excluded areas. We compare the underlying technical assumption and results with other global assessments.

  19. Nebraska wind resource assessment first year results

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hurley, P.J.F.; Vilhauer, R. [RLA Consulting, Inc., Bothell, WA (United States); Stooksbury, D. [Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE (United States)

    1996-12-31

    This paper presents the preliminary results from a wind resource assessment program in Nebraska sponsored by the Nebraska Power Association. During the first year the measured annual wind speed at 40 meters ranged from 6.5 - 7.5 m/s (14.6 - 16.8 mph) at eight stations across the state. The site selection process is discussed as well as an overview of the site characteristics at the monitoring locations. Results from the first year monitoring period including data recovery rate, directionality, average wind speeds, wind shear, and turbulence intensity are presented. Results from the eight sites are qualitatively compared with other midwest and west coast locations. 5 figs., 2 tabs.

  20. Wind energy resource assessment in Madrid region

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Migoya, Emilio; Crespo, Antonio; Jimenez, Angel; Garcia, Javier; Manuel, Fernando [Laboratorio de Mecanica de Fluidos, Departamento de Ingenieria Energetica y Fluidomecanica, Escuela Tecnica Superior Ingenieros Industriales (ETSII), Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (UPM), C/Jose Gutierrez Abascal, 2-28006, Madrid (Spain)

    2007-07-15

    The Comunidad Autonoma de Madrid (Autonomous Community of Madrid, in the following Madrid Region), is a region located at the geographical centre of the Iberian Peninsula. Its area is 8.028 km{sup 2}, and its population about five million people. The Department of Economy and Technological Innovation of the Madrid Region, together with some organizations dealing on energy saving and other research institutions have elaborated an Energy Plan for the 2004-12 period. As a part of this work, the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory of the Superior Technical School of Industrial Engineers of the Polytechnic University of Madrid has carried out the assessment of the wind energy resources [Crespo A, Migoya E, Gomez Elvira R. La energia eolica en Madrid. Potencialidad y prospectiva. Plan energetico de la Comunidad de Madrid, 2004-2012. Madrid: Comunidad Autonoma de Madrid; 2004]; using for this task the WAsP program (Wind Atlas Analysis and Application Program), and the own codes, UPMORO (code to study orography effects) and UPMPARK (code to study wake effects in wind parks). Different kinds of data have been collected about climate, topography, roughness of the land, environmentally protected areas, town and village distribution, population density, main facilities and electric power supply. The Spanish National Meteorological Institute has nine wind measurement stations in the region, but only four of them have good and reliable temporary wind data, with time measurement periods that are long enough to provide representative correlations among stations. The Observed Wind Climates of the valid meteorological stations have been made. The Wind Atlas and the resource grid have been calculated, especially in the high wind resource areas, selecting appropriate measurements stations and using criteria based on proximity, similarity and ruggedness index. Some areas cannot be used as a wind energy resource mainly because they have environmental regulation or, in some cases, are very close

  1. Distributed Wind Resource Assessment: State of the Industry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fields, Jason [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Tinnesand, Heidi [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Baring-Gould, Ian [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2016-06-01

    In support of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Wind and Water Power Technologies Office (WWPTO) goals, researchers from DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) are investigating the Distributed Wind Resource Assessment (DWRA) process, which includes pre-construction energy estimation as well as turbine site suitability assessment. DWRA can have a direct impact on the Wind Program goals of maximizing stakeholder confidence in turbine performance and safety as well as reducing the levelized cost of energy (LCOE). One of the major components of the LCOE equation is annual energy production. DWRA improvements can maximize the annual energy production, thereby lowering the overall LCOE and improving stakeholder confidence in the distributed wind technology sector by providing more accurate predictions of power production. Over the long term, one of the most significant benefits of a more defined DWRA process could be new turbine designs, tuned to site-specific characteristics that will help the distributed wind industry follow a similar trajectory to the low-wind-speed designs in the utility-scale industry sector. By understanding the wind resource better, the industry could install larger rotors, capture more energy, and as a result, increase deployment while lowering the LCOE. a direct impact on the Wind Program goals of maximizing stakeholder confidence in turbine performance and safety as well as reducing the levelized cost of energy (LCOE). One of the major components of the LCOE equation is annual energy production. DWRA improvements can maximize the annual energy production, thereby lowering the overall LCOE and improving stakeholder confidence in the distributed wind technology sector by providing more accurate predictions of power production. Over the long term, one of the most significant benefits of a more defined DWRA process could be new turbine designs, tuned to site-specific characteristics that

  2. Review of Methodologies for Offshore Wind Resource Assessment in European Seas

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sempreviva, Anna Maria; Barthelmie, Rebecca Jane; Pryor, Sara

    2008-01-01

    promising wind farm sites and (ii) a site specific evaluation of wind climatology and vertical profiles of wind and atmospheric turbulence, in addition to an assessment of historical and possibly future changes due to climate non-stationarity. Phase (i) of the process can involve use of in situ observations......The wind resource offshore is generally larger than at geographically nearby onshore sites, which can offset the higher installation, operation and maintenance costs associated with offshore wind parks. Successful offshore wind energy development relies to some extent on accurate prediction of wind......) of the project often still requires in situ observations (which may or may not be supplemented with ground-based remote sensing technologies) and application of tools to provide a climatological context for the resulting measurements. Current methodologies for undertaking these aspects of the resource assessment...

  3. Wind resource assessment using the WAsP software (DTU Wind Energy E-0135)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mortensen, Niels Gylling

    These course notes are intended for the three-week course 46200 Planning and Development of Wind Farms given each year at the Technical University of Denmark. The purpose of the course notes is to give an introduction to wind resource assessment and siting issues using the WAsP suite of programs....

  4. Forecastability as a Design Criterion in Wind Resource Assessment: Preprint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, J.; Hodge, B. M.

    2014-04-01

    This paper proposes a methodology to include the wind power forecasting ability, or 'forecastability,' of a site as a design criterion in wind resource assessment and wind power plant design stages. The Unrestricted Wind Farm Layout Optimization (UWFLO) methodology is adopted to maximize the capacity factor of a wind power plant. The 1-hour-ahead persistence wind power forecasting method is used to characterize the forecastability of a potential wind power plant, thereby partially quantifying the integration cost. A trade-off between the maximum capacity factor and the forecastability is investigated.

  5. Wind resource in metropolitan France: assessment methods, variability and trends

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jourdier, Benedicte

    2015-01-01

    France has one of the largest wind potentials in Europe, yet far from being fully exploited. The wind resource and energy yield assessment is a key step before building a wind farm, aiming at predicting the future electricity production. Any over-estimation in the assessment process puts in jeopardy the project's profitability. This has been the case in the recent years, when wind farm managers have noticed that they produced less than expected. The under-production problem leads to questioning both the validity of the assessment methods and the inter-annual wind variability. This thesis tackles these two issues. In a first part are investigated the errors linked to the assessment methods, especially in two steps: the vertical extrapolation of wind measurements and the statistical modelling of wind-speed data by a Weibull distribution. The second part investigates the inter-annual to decadal variability of wind speeds, in order to understand how this variability may have contributed to the under-production and so that it is better taken into account in the future. (author) [fr

  6. Wind resource assessment and siting analysis in Italy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ricci, A.; Mizzoni, G.; Rossi, E.

    1992-01-01

    Recently, the wind power industry has matured; consequently, in many countries a lot of wind energy applications have been programmed. Many of them are already realized and running. As such, there is a direct necessity to identify a sizeable number of wind power plant sites. Choosing the right sites to match specific Wind Energy Conversion Systems (WECS) is also needed to harness this clean energy from the points of view of industrial viability and project financing. As a pre-requisite to install a wind turbine at a particular site, it is necessary to have knowledge of the theoretical available wind energy at the site, as well as, of the practicability of the design in matching the characteristics of the WECS. In this paper, ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technology, Energy and Environment) wind siting and resource assessment activities, currently on-going in different regions in Italy, along with the present status and future prospects of the wind power industry

  7. Development of distributed topographical forecasting model for wind resource assessment using artificial neural networks

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Narayana, P.B. [Green Life Energy Solutions LLP, Secunderabad (India); Rao, S.S. [National Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Warangal (India); Reddy, K.H. [JNT Univ.. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Anantapur (India)

    2012-07-01

    Economics of wind power projects largely depend on the availability of wind power density. Wind resource assessment is a study estimating wind speeds and wind power densities in the region under consideration. The accuracy and reliability of data sets comprising of wind speeds and wind power densities at different heights per topographic region characterized by elevation or mean sea level, is important for wind power projects. Indian Wind Resource Assessment program conducted in 80's consisted of wind data measured by monitoring stations at different topographies in order to measure wind power density values at 25 and 50 meters above the ground level. In this paper, an attempt has been made to assess wind resource at a given location using artificial neural networks. Existing wind resource data has been used to train the neural networks. Location topography (characterized by longitude, latitude and mean sea level), air density, mean annual wind speed (MAWS) are used as inputs to the neural network. Mean annual wind power density (MAWPD) in watt/m{sup 2} is predicted for a new topographic location. Simple back propagation based neural network has been found to be sufficient for predicting these values with suitable accuracy. This model is closely linked to the problem of wind energy forecasting considering the variations of specific atmospheric variables with time horizons. This model will help the wind farm developers to have an initial estimation of the wind energy potential at a particular topography. (Author)

  8. Applicability of Synthetic Aperture Radar Wind Retrievals on Offshore Wind Resources Assessment in Hangzhou Bay, China

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chang, Rui; Zhu, Rong; Badger, Merete

    2014-01-01

    In view of the high cost and sparse spatial resolution of offshore meteorological observations, ocean winds retrieved from satellites are valuable in offshore wind resource assessment as a supplement to in situ measurements. This study examines satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images from...... ENVISAT advanced SAR (ASAR) for mapping wind resources with high spatial resolution. Around 181 collected pairs of wind data from SAR wind maps and from 13 meteorological stations in Hangzhou Bay are compared. The statistical results comparing in situ wind speed and SAR-based wind speed show a standard...... density functions are compared at one meteorological station. The SAR-based results appear not to estimate the mean wind speed, Weibull scale and shape parameters and wind power density from the full in situ data set so well due to the lower number of satellite samples. Distributions calculated from...

  9. Wind energy resource atlas. Volume 9. The Southwest Region

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Simon, R.L.; Norman, G.T.; Elliott, D.L.; Barchet, W.R.; George, R.L.

    1980-11-01

    This atlas of the wind energy resource is composed of introductory and background information, a regional summary of the wind resource, and assessments of the wind resource in Nevada and California. Background on how the wind resource is assessed and on how the results of the assessment should be interpreted is presented. A description of the wind resource on a regional scale is then given. The results of the wind energy assessments for each state are assembled into an overview and summary of the various features of the regional wind energy resource. An introduction and outline to the descriptions of the wind resource given for each state are given. Assessments for individual states are presented as separate chapters. The state wind energy resources are described in greater detail than is the regional wind energy resource, and features of selected stations are discussed.

  10. Wind resource estimation and siting of wind turbines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lundtang Petersen, Erik; Mortensen, N.G.; Landberg, L.

    1994-01-01

    Detailed knowledge of the characteristics of the natural wind is necessary for the design, planning and operational aspect of wind energy systems. Here, we shall only be concerned with those meteorological aspects of wind energy planning that are termed wind resource estimation. The estimation...... of the wind resource ranges from the overall estimation of the mean energy content of the wind over a large area - called regional assessment - to the prediction of the average yearly energy production of a specific wind turbine at a specific location - called siting. A regional assessment will most often...... lead to a so-called wind atlas. A precise prediction of the wind speed at a given site is essential because for aerodynamic reasons the power output of a wind turbine is proportional to the third power of the wind speed, hence even small errors in prediction of wind speed may result in large deviations...

  11. Wind power in Eritrea, Africa: A preliminary resource assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Garbesi, K.; Rosen, K. [San Jose State Univ., CA (United States); Van Buskirk, R. [Dept. of Energy, Eritrea (Ethiopia)

    1997-12-31

    The authors preliminary assessment of Eritrean wind energy potential identified two promising regions: (1) the southeastern Red Sea coast and (2) the mountain passes that channel winds between the coastal lowlands and the interior highlands. The coastal site, near the port city of Aseb, has an exceptionally good resource, with estimated average annual wind speeds at 10-m height above 9 m/s at the airport and 7 m/s in the port. Furthermore, the southern 200 km of coastline has offshore WS{sub aa} > 6 m/s. This area has strong potential for development, having a local 20 MW grid and unmet demand for the fishing industry and development. Although the highland sites contain only marginal wind resources ({approximately} 5 m/s), they warrant further investigation because of their proximity to the capital city, Asmera, which has the largest unmet demand and a larger power grid (40 MW with an additional 80 MW planned) to absorb an intermittent source without storage.

  12. Evaluation model of wind energy resources and utilization efficiency of wind farm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Jie

    2018-04-01

    Due to the large amount of abandoned winds in wind farms, the establishment of a wind farm evaluation model is particularly important for the future development of wind farms In this essay, consider the wind farm's wind energy situation, Wind Energy Resource Model (WERM) and Wind Energy Utilization Efficiency Model(WEUEM) are established to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the wind farm. Wind Energy Resource Model (WERM) contains average wind speed, average wind power density and turbulence intensity, which assessed wind energy resources together. Based on our model, combined with the actual measurement data of a wind farm, calculate the indicators using the model, and the results are in line with the actual situation. We can plan the future development of the wind farm based on this result. Thus, the proposed establishment approach of wind farm assessment model has application value.

  13. 46200 Planning and Development of Wind Farms: Wind resource assessment using the WAsP software

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mortensen, Niels Gylling

    These course notes are intended for the three-week course 46200 Planning and Development of Wind Farms given each year at the Technical University of Denmark. The purpose of the course notes is to give an introduction to wind resource assessment and siting issues using the WAsP suite of programs....

  14. Global assessment of onshore wind power resources considering the distance to urban areas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Silva Herran, Diego; Dai, Hancheng; Fujimori, Shinichiro; Masui, Toshihiko

    2016-01-01

    This study assessed global onshore wind power resources considering the distance to urban areas in terms of transmission losses and costs, and visibility (landscape impact) restrictions. Including this factor decreased the economic potential considerably depending on the level of supply cost considered (at least 37% and 16% for an economic potential below 10 and 14 US cents/kWh, respectively). Its importance compared to other factors was secondary below 15 US cents/kWh. At higher costs it was secondary only to land use, and was more important than economic and technical factors. The impact of this factor was mixed across all regions of the world, given the heterogeneity of wind resources in remote and proximal areas. Regions where available resources decreased the most included the European Union, Japan, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The supply cost chosen to evaluate the economic potential and uncertainties influencing the estimation of distance to the closest urban area are critical for the assessment. Neglecting the restrictions associated with integration into energy systems and social acceptability resulted in an overestimation of global onshore wind resources. These outcomes are fundamental for global climate policies because they help to clarify the limits of wind energy resource availability. - Highlights: • Global onshore wind resources were assessed including the distance to urban areas. • We evaluate the impact of transmission losses and cost, and visibility restrictions. • The distance to urban areas' impact was considerable, depending on the supply cost. • This factor's importance was secondary to economic, land use, and technical factors. • Neglecting this factor resulted in an overestimation of global wind resources.

  15. Philippines Wind Energy Resource Atlas Development

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Elliott, D.

    2000-11-29

    This paper describes the creation of a comprehensive wind energy resource atlas for the Philippines. The atlas was created to facilitate the rapid identification of good wind resource areas and understanding of the salient wind characteristics. Detailed wind resource maps were generated for the entire country using an advanced wind mapping technique and innovative assessment methods recently developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

  16. Wind Resource Assessment in Abadan Airport in Iran

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mojtaba Nedaei

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Renewable energies have potential for supplying of relatively clean and mostly local energy. Wind energy generation is expected to increase in the near future and has experienced dramatic growth over the past decade in many countries. Wind speed is the most important parameter in the design and study of wind energy conversion systems. Probability density functions such as Weibull and Rayleigh are often used in wind speed and wind energy analyses. This paper presents an assessment of wind energy at three heights during near two years based on Weibull distribution function in Abadan Airport. Extrapolation of the 10 m and 40 m data, using the power law, has been used to determine the wind speed at height of 80 m. According to the results wind speed at 80 m height in Abadan is ranged from 5.8 m/s in Nov to 8.5 m/s in Jun with average value of 7.15 m/s. In this study, different parameters such as Weibull parameters, diurnal and monthly wind speeds, cumulative distribution and turbulence intensity have been estimated and analyzed. In addition Energy production of different wind turbines at different heights was estimated. The results show that the studied site has good potential for Installation of large and commercial wind turbines at height of 80 m or higher. Keywords: Abadan, Iran, wind energy, wind resource, wind turbine, Weibull

  17. Wind resource assessment and wind energy system cost analysis: Fort Huachuca, Arizona

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Olsen, T.L. [Tim Olsen Consulting, Denver, CO (United States); McKenna, E. [National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)

    1997-12-01

    The objective of this joint DOE and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) project is to determine whether wind turbines can reduce costs by providing power to US military facilities in high wind areas. In support of this objective, one year of data on the wind resources at several Fort Huachuca sites was collected. The wind resource data were analyzed and used as input to an economic study for a wind energy installation at Fort Huachuca. The results of this wind energy feasibility study are presented in the report.

  18. Wind and Solar Energy Resource Assessment for Navy Installations in the Midwestern US

    Science.gov (United States)

    Darmenova, K.; Apling, D.; Higgins, G. J.; Carnes, J.; Smith, C.

    2012-12-01

    A stable supply of energy is critical for sustainable economic development and the ever-increasing demand for energy resources drives the need for alternative weather-driven renewable energy solutions such as solar and wind-generated power. Recognizing the importance of energy as a strategic resource, the Department of the Navy has focused on energy efficient solutions aiming to increase tactical and shore energy security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Implementing alternative energy solutions will alleviate the Navy installations demands on the National power grid, however transitioning to renewable energy sources is a complex multi-stage process that involves initial investment in resource assessment and feasibility of building solar and wind power systems in Navy's facilities. This study focuses on the wind and solar energy resource assessment for Navy installations in the Midwestern US. We use the dynamically downscaled datasets at 12 km resolution over the Continental US generated with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to derive the wind climatology in terms of wind speed, direction, and wind power at 20 m above the surface for 65 Navy facilities. In addition, we derived the transmissivity of the atmosphere, diffuse radiation fraction, cloud cover and seasonal energy potential for a zenith facing surface with unobstructed horizon for each installation location based on the results of a broadband radiative transfer model and our cloud database based on 17-years of GOES data. Our analysis was incorporated in a GIS framework in combination with additional infrastructure data that enabled a synergistic resource assessment based on the combination of climatological and engineering factors.

  19. Wind energy prospecting: socio-economic value of a new wind resource assessment technique based on a NASA Earth science dataset

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanvyve, E.; Magontier, P.; Vandenberghe, F. C.; Delle Monache, L.; Dickinson, K.

    2012-12-01

    Wind energy is amongst the fastest growing sources of renewable energy in the U.S. and could supply up to 20 % of the U.S power production by 2030. An accurate and reliable wind resource assessment for prospective wind farm sites is a challenging task, yet is crucial for evaluating the long-term profitability and feasibility of a potential development. We have developed an accurate and computationally efficient wind resource assessment technique for prospective wind farm sites, which incorporates innovative statistical techniques and the new NASA Earth science dataset MERRA. This technique produces a wind resource estimate that is more accurate than that obtained by the wind energy industry's standard technique, while providing a reliable quantification of its uncertainty. The focus now is on evaluating the socio-economic value of this new technique upon using the industry's standard technique. Would it yield lower financing costs? Could it result in lower electricity prices? Are there further down-the-line positive consequences, e.g. job creation, time saved, greenhouse gas decrease? Ultimately, we expect our results will inform efforts to refine and disseminate the new technique to support the development of the U.S. renewable energy infrastructure. In order to address the above questions, we are carrying out a cost-benefit analysis based on the net present worth of the technique. We will describe this approach, including the cash-flow process of wind farm financing, how the wind resource assessment factors in, and will present current results for various hypothetical candidate wind farm sites.

  20. Offshore Wind Resources Assessment from Multiple Satellite Data and WRF Modeling over South China Sea

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rui Chang

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Using accurate inputs of wind speed is crucial in wind resource assessment, as predicted power is proportional to the wind speed cubed. This study outlines a methodology for combining multiple ocean satellite winds and winds from WRF simulations in order to acquire the accurate reconstructed offshore winds which can be used for offshore wind resource assessment. First, wind speeds retrieved from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR and Scatterometer ASCAT images were validated against in situ measurements from seven coastal meteorological stations in South China Sea (SCS. The wind roses from the Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS and ASCAT agree well with these observations from the corresponding in situ measurements. The statistical results comparing in situ wind speed and SAR-based (ASCAT-based wind speed for the whole co-located samples show a standard deviation (SD of 2.09 m/s (1.83 m/s and correlation coefficient of R 0.75 (0.80. When the offshore winds (i.e., winds directed from land to sea are excluded, the comparison results for wind speeds show an improvement of SD and R, indicating that the satellite data are more credible over the open ocean. Meanwhile, the validation of satellite winds against the same co-located mast observations shows a satisfactory level of accuracy which was similar for SAR and ASCAT winds. These satellite winds are then assimilated into the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF Model by WRF Data Assimilation (WRFDA system. Finally, the wind resource statistics at 100 m height based on the reconstructed winds have been achieved over the study area, which fully combines the offshore wind information from multiple satellite data and numerical model. The findings presented here may be useful in future wind resource assessment based on satellite data.

  1. A high resolution global wind atlas - improving estimation of world wind resources

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Badger, Jake; Ejsing Jørgensen, Hans

    2011-01-01

    to population centres, electrical transmission grids, terrain types, and protected land areas are important parts of the resource assessment downstream of the generation of wind climate statistics. Related to these issues of integration are the temporal characteristics and spatial correlation of the wind...... resources. These aspects will also be addressed by the Global Wind Atlas. The Global Wind Atlas, through a transparent methodology, will provide a unified, high resolution, and public domain dataset of wind energy resources for the whole world. The wind atlas data will be the most appropriate wind resource...

  2. Small Wind Site Assessment Guidelines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Olsen, Tim [Advanced Energy Systems LLC, Eugene, OR (United States); Preus, Robert [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2015-09-01

    Site assessment for small wind energy systems is one of the key factors in the successful installation, operation, and performance of a small wind turbine. A proper site assessment is a difficult process that includes wind resource assessment and the evaluation of site characteristics. These guidelines address many of the relevant parts of a site assessment with an emphasis on wind resource assessment, using methods other than on-site data collection and creating a small wind site assessment report.

  3. Applicability of Synthetic Aperture Radar Wind Retrievals on Offshore Wind Resources Assessment in Hangzhou Bay, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rui Chang

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available In view of the high cost and sparse spatial resolution of offshore meteorological observations, ocean winds retrieved from satellites are valuable in offshore wind resource assessment as a supplement to in situ measurements. This study examines satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR images from ENVISAT advanced SAR (ASAR for mapping wind resources with high spatial resolution. Around 181 collected pairs of wind data from SAR wind maps and from 13 meteorological stations in Hangzhou Bay are compared. The statistical results comparing in situ wind speed and SAR-based wind speed show a standard deviation (SD of 1.99 m/s and correlation coefficient of R = 0.67. The model wind directions, which are used as input for the SAR wind speed retrieval, show a high correlation coefficient (R = 0.89 but a large standard deviation (SD = 42.3° compared to in situ observations. The Weibull probability density functions are compared at one meteorological station. The SAR-based results appear not to estimate the mean wind speed, Weibull scale and shape parameters and wind power density from the full in situ data set so well due to the lower number of satellite samples. Distributions calculated from the concurrent 81 SAR and in situ samples agree well.

  4. Assessment of Offshore Wind Energy Resources for the United States

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schwartz, M.; Heimiller, D.; Haymes, S.; Musial, W.

    2010-06-01

    This report summarizes the offshore wind resource potential for the contiguous United States and Hawaii as of May 2009. The development of this assessment has evolved over multiple stages as new regional meso-scale assessments became available, new validation data was obtained, and better modeling capabilities were implemented. It is expected that further updates to the current assessment will be made in future reports.

  5. Wind resource assessment in heterogeneous terrain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanderwel, C.; Placidi, M.; Ganapathisubramani, B.

    2017-03-01

    High-resolution particle image velocimetry data obtained in rough-wall boundary layer experiments are re-analysed to examine the influence of surface roughness heterogeneities on wind resource. Two different types of heterogeneities are examined: (i) surfaces with repeating roughness units of the order of the boundary layer thickness (Placidi & Ganapathisubramani. 2015 J. Fluid Mech. 782, 541-566. (doi:10.1017/jfm.2015.552)) and (ii) surfaces with streamwise-aligned elevated strips that mimic adjacent hills and valleys (Vanderwel & Ganapathisubramani. 2015 J. Fluid Mech. 774, 1-12. (doi:10.1017/jfm.2015.228)). For the first case, the data show that the power extraction potential is highly dependent on the surface morphology with a variation of up to 20% in the available wind resource across the different surfaces examined. A strong correlation is shown to exist between the frontal and plan solidities of the rough surfaces and the equivalent wind speed, and hence the wind resource potential. These differences are also found in profiles of graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="RSTA20160109IM1"/> and graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="RSTA20160109IM2"/> (where U is the streamwise velocity), which act as proxies for thrust and power output. For the second case, the secondary flows that cause low- and high-momentum pathways when the spacing between adjacent hills is beyond a critical value result in significant variations in wind resource availability. Contour maps of graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="RSTA20160109IM3"/> and graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="RSTA20160109IM4"/> show a large difference in thrust and power potential (over 50%) between hills and valleys (at a fixed vertical height). These variations do not seem to be present when adjacent hills are close to each other (i.e. when the spacing is much less than the boundary layer thickness). The

  6. Wind resource characterization in the Arabian Peninsula

    KAUST Repository

    Yip, Chak Man Andrew

    2015-12-28

    Wind energy is expected to contribute to alleviating the rise in energy demand in the Middle East that is driven by population growth and industrial development. However, variability and intermittency in the wind resource present significant challenges to grid integration of wind energy systems. These issues are rarely addressed in the literature of wind resource assessment in the Middle East due to sparse meteorological observations with varying record lengths. In this study, the wind field with consistent space–time resolution for over three decades at three hub heights (50m, 80m, 140m) over the whole Arabian Peninsula is constructed using the Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) dataset. The wind resource is assessed at a higher spatial resolution with metrics of temporal variations in the wind than in prior studies. Previously unrecognized locations of interest with high wind abundance and low variability and intermittency have been identified in this study and confirmed by recent on-site observations. In particular, the western mountains of Saudi Arabia experience more abundant wind resource than most Red Sea coastal areas. The wind resource is more variable in coastal areas along the Arabian Gulf than their Red Sea counterparts at a similar latitude. Persistent wind is found along the coast of the Arabian Gulf.

  7. Climate Wind Power Resources

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nana M. Berdzenishvili

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Georgia as a whole is characterized by rather rich solar energy resources, which allows to construct alternative power stations in the close proximity to traditional power plants. In this case the use of solar energy is meant. Georgia is divided into 5 zones based on the assessment of wind power resources. The selection of these zones is based on the index of average annual wind speed in the examined area, V> 3 m / s and V> 5 m / s wind speed by the summing duration in the course of the year and V = 0. . . 2 m / s of passive wind by total and continuous duration of these indices per hour.

  8. Improved Offshore Wind Resource Assessment in Global Climate Stabilization Scenarios

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arent, D.; Sullivan, P.; Heimiller, D.; Lopez, A.; Eurek, K.; Badger, J.; Jorgensen, H. E.; Kelly, M.; Clarke, L.; Luckow, P.

    2012-10-01

    This paper introduces a technique for digesting geospatial wind-speed data into areally defined -- country-level, in this case -- wind resource supply curves. We combined gridded wind-vector data for ocean areas with bathymetry maps, country exclusive economic zones, wind turbine power curves, and other datasets and relevant parameters to build supply curves that estimate a country's offshore wind resource defined by resource quality, depth, and distance-from-shore. We include a single set of supply curves -- for a particular assumption set -- and study some implications of including it in a global energy model. We also discuss the importance of downscaling gridded wind vector data to capturing the full resource potential, especially over land areas with complex terrain. This paper includes motivation and background for a statistical downscaling methodology to account for terrain effects with a low computational burden. Finally, we use this forum to sketch a framework for building synthetic electric networks to estimate transmission accessibility of renewable resource sites in remote areas.

  9. Wind power production: from the characterisation of the wind resource to wind turbine technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beslin, Guy; Multon, Bernard

    2016-01-01

    Illustrated by graphs and tables, this article first describes the various factors and means related to the assessment of wind resource in the World, in Europe, and the factors which characterize a local wind resource. In this last respect, the authors indicate how local topography is taken into account to calculate wind speed, how time variations are taken into account (at the yearly, seasonal or daily level), the different methods used to model a local wind resource, how to assess the power recoverable by a wind turbine with horizontal axis (notion of Betz limit). In the second part, the authors present the different wind turbines, their benefits and drawbacks: vertical axis, horizontal axis (examples of a Danish-type wind turbine, of wind turbines designed for extreme conditions). Then, they address the technology of big wind turbines: evolution of technology and of commercial offer, aerodynamic characteristics of wind turbine and benefit of a varying speed (technological solutions, importance of the electric generator). They describe how to choose a wind turbine, how product lines are organised, how the power curve and energy capacity are determined. The issue of integration of wind energy into the power system is then addressed. The next part addressed the economy of wind energy production (annualized production cost, order of magnitude of wind electric power production cost). Future trends are discussed and offshore wind energy production is briefly addressed

  10. European Wind Atlas and Wind Resource Research in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mortensen, Niels Gylling

    to estimate the actual wind climate at any specific site and height within this region. The Danish and European Wind Atlases are examples of how the wind atlas methodology can be employed to estimate the wind resource potential for a country or a sub-continent. Recently, the methodology has also been used...... - from wind measurements at prospective sites to wind tunnel simulations and advanced flow modelling. Among these approaches, the wind atlas methodology - developed at Ris0 National Laboratory over the last 25 years - has gained widespread recognition and is presently considered by many as the industry......-standard tool for wind resource assessment and siting of wind turbines. The PC-implementation of the methodology, the Wind Atlas Analysis and Application Program (WAsP), has been applied in more than 70 countries and territories world-wide. The wind atlas methodology is based on physical descriptions and models...

  11. Results from utility wind resource assessment programs in Nebraska, Colorado, and Arizona

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Drapeau, C.L. [Global Energy Concepts, Inc., Bothell, WA (United States)

    1997-12-31

    Global Energy Concepts (GEC) has been retained by utilities in Colorado, Nebraska, and Arizona to site, install, and operate 21 wind monitoring stations as part of the Utility Wind Resource Assessment Program (U*WRAP). Preliminary results indicate wind speed averages at 40 meters (132 ft) of 6.5 - 7.4 m/s (14.5-16.5 mph) in Nebraska and 7.6 - 8.9 m/s (17.0-19.9 mph) in Colorado. The Arizona stations are not yet operational. This paper presents the history and current status of the 21 monitoring stations as well as preliminary data results. Information on wind speeds, wind direction, turbulence intensity, wind shear, frequency distribution, and data recovery rates are provided.

  12. State of the Art and Trends in Wind Resource Assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oliver Probst

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Given the significant rise of the utilization of wind energy the accurate assessment of the wind potential is becoming increasingly important. Direct applications of wind assessment techniques include the creation of wind maps on a local scale (typically 5 20 km and the micrositing of wind turbines, the estimation of vertical wind speed variations, prospecting on a regional scale (>100 km, estimation of the long-term wind resource at a given site, and forecasting. The measurement of wind speed and direction still widely relies on cup anemometers, though sonic anemometers are becoming increasingly popular. Moreover, remote sensing by Doppler techniques using the backscattering of either sonic beams (SODAR or light (LIDAR allowing for vertical profiling well beyond hub height are quickly moving into the mainstream. Local wind maps are based on the predicted modification of the regional wind flow pattern by the local atmospheric boundary layer which in turn depends on both topographic and roughness features and the measured wind rose obtained from one or several measurement towers within the boundaries of the planned development site. Initial models were based on linearized versions of the Navier-Stokes equations, whereas more recently full CFD models have been applied to wind farm micrositing. Linear models tend to perform well for terrain slopes lower than about 25% and have the advantage of short execution times. Long-term performance is frequently estimated from correlations with nearby reference stations with concurrent information and continuous time series over a period of at least 10 years. Simple methods consider only point-to-point linear correlations; more advanced methods like multiple regression techniques and methods based on the theory of distributions will be discussed. Both for early prospecting in regions where only scarce or unreliable reference information is available, wind flow modeling on a larger scale (mesoscale is becoming

  13. Wind power in Scotland - a critique of recent resource assessments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Twidell, J.W.

    1995-01-01

    A critical analysis of 4 recent UK official reports relating to the renewable energy resources of Scotland, particularly the large wind resource, and including institutional and economic factors. Key points are listed with comments for use in supporting wind power developments. (Author)

  14. Satellite SAR wind resource mapping in China (SAR-China)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Badger, M.

    2009-07-15

    The project 'Off-Shore Wind Energy Resource Assessment and Feasibility Study of Off-Shore Wind Farm Development in China' is funded by the EU-China Energy and Environment Programme (EEP) and runs for one year (August 2008 - August 2009). The project is lead by the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) and supported by SgurrEnergy Ltd. Risoe National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy at the Technical University of Denmark (Risoe DTU) has been commissioned to perform a satellite based wind resource analysis as part of the project. The objective of this analysis is to map the wind resource offshore at a high spatial resolution (1 km). The detailed wind resource maps will be used, in combination with other data sets, for an assessment of potential sites for offshore wind farm development along the coastline from Fujian to Shandong in China. (au)

  15. Wind Resource Assessment in Complex Terrain with a High-Resolution Numerical Weather Prediction Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gruber, Karin; Serafin, Stefano; Grubišić, Vanda; Dorninger, Manfred; Zauner, Rudolf; Fink, Martin

    2014-05-01

    A crucial step in planning new wind farms is the estimation of the amount of wind energy that can be harvested in possible target sites. Wind resource assessment traditionally entails deployment of masts equipped for wind speed measurements at several heights for a reasonably long period of time. Simplified linear models of atmospheric flow are then used for a spatial extrapolation of point measurements to a wide area. While linear models have been successfully applied in the wind resource assessment in plains and offshore, their reliability in complex terrain is generally poor. This represents a major limitation to wind resource assessment in Austria, where high-altitude locations are being considered for new plant sites, given the higher frequency of sustained winds at such sites. The limitations of linear models stem from two key assumptions in their formulation, the neutral stratification and attached boundary-layer flow, both of which often break down in complex terrain. Consequently, an accurate modeling of near-surface flow over mountains requires the adoption of a NWP model with high horizontal and vertical resolution. This study explores the wind potential of a site in Styria in the North-Eastern Alps. The WRF model is used for simulations with a maximum horizontal resolution of 800 m. Three nested computational domains are defined, with the innermost one encompassing a stretch of the relatively broad Enns Valley, flanked by the main crest of the Alps in the south and the Nördliche Kalkalpen of similar height in the north. In addition to the simulation results, we use data from fourteen 10-m wind measurement sites (of which 7 are located within valleys and 5 near mountain tops) and from 2 masts with anemometers at several heights (at hillside locations) in an area of 1600 km2 around the target site. The potential for wind energy production is assessed using the mean wind speed and turbulence intensity at hub height. The capacity factor is also evaluated

  16. Wind energy in Vietnam: Resource assessment, development status and future implications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nguyen, Khanh Q.

    2007-01-01

    The aim of this study is to estimate the technical potential of wind energy in Vietnam and discuss strategies for promoting the market penetration of wind energy in the country. For the wind resource assessment, a geographical information system (GIS)- assisted approach has been developed. It is found that Vietnam has a good potential for wind energy. About 31,000 km 2 of land area can be available for wind development in which 865 km 2 equivalents to a wind power of 3572 MW has a generation cost less than 6 US cents/kWh. The study also proves that wind energy could be a good solution for about 300,000 rural non-electrified households. While wind energy brings about ecological, economic and social benefits, it is only modestly exploited in Vietnam, where the main barrier is the lack of political impetus and a proper framework for promoting renewable energy. The priority task therefore is to set a target for renewable energy development and to find instruments to achieve such a target. The main instruments proposed here are setting feed-in tariff and providing investment incentives

  17. Satellite based wind resource assessment over the South China Sea

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Badger, Merete; Astrup, Poul; Hasager, Charlotte Bay

    2014-01-01

    variations are clearly visible across the domain; for instance sheltering effects caused by the land masses. The satellite based wind resource maps have two shortcomings. One is the lack of information at the higher vertical levels where wind turbines operate. The other is the limited number of overlapping...... years of WRF data – specifically the parameters heat flux, air temperature, and friction velocity – are used to calculate a long-term correction for atmospheric stability effects. The stability correction is applied to the satellite based wind resource maps together with a vertical wind profile...... from satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data are particularly suitable for offshore wind energy applications because they offer a spatial resolution up to 500 m and include coastal seas. In this presentation, satellite wind maps are used in combination with mast observations and numerical...

  18. Offshore Wind Resources Assessment from Multiple Satellite Data and WRF Modeling over South China Sea

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chang, Rui; Rong, Zhu; Badger, Merete

    2015-01-01

    offshore winds which can be used for offshore wind resource assessment. First, wind speeds retrieved from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Scatterometer ASCAT images were validated against in situ measurements from seven coastal meteorological stations in South China Sea (SCS). The wind roses from...... (SD) of 2.09 m/s (1.83 m/s) and correlation coefficient of R 0.75 (0.80). When the offshore winds (i.e., winds directed from land to sea) are excluded, the comparison results for wind speeds show an improvement of SD and R, indicating that the satellite data are more credible over the open ocean...

  19. Assessment of wind energy potential in China

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Zhu Rong; Zhang De; Wang Yuedong; Xing Xuhuang; Li Zechun

    2009-01-01

    China wind atlas was made by numerical simulation and the wind energy potential in China was calculated. The model system for wind energy resource assessment was set up based on Canadian Wind Energy Simulating Toolkit (WEST) and the simulating method was as follows. First, the weather classes were obtained depend on meteorological data of 30 years. Then, driven by the initial meteorological field produced by each weather class, the meso-scale model ran for the distribution of wind energy resources according each weather class condition one by one. Finally, averaging all the modeling output weighted by the occurrence frequency of each weather class, the annual mean distribution of wind energy resources was worked out. Compared the simulated wind energy potential with other results from several ac-tivities and studies for wind energy resource assessment, it is found that the simulated wind energy potential in mainland of China is 3 times that from the second and the third investigations for wind energy resources by CMA, and is similar to the wind energy potential obtained by NREL in Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA) project. The simulated offshore wind energy potential of China seems smaller than the true value. According to the simulated results of CMA and considering lots of limited factors to wind energy development, the final conclusion can be obtained that the wind energy availability in China is 700~1 200 GW, in which 600~1 000 GW is in mainland and 100~200 GW is on offshore, and wind power will become the important part of energy composition in future.

  20. Wind Energy Resource Atlas. Volume 11. Hawaii and Pacific Islands Region

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schroeder, T.A.; Hori, A.M.; Elliott, D.L.; Barchet, W.R.; George, R.L.

    1981-02-01

    This atlas of the wind energy resource is composed of introductory and background information, and assessments of the wind resource in each division of the region. Background on how the wind resource is assessed and on how the results of the assessment should be inerpreted is presented. An introduction and outline to the descriptions of the wind resource for each division are provided. Assessments for individual divisions are presented as separate chapters. Much of the information in the division chapters is given in graphic or tabular form. The sequences for each chapter are similar, but some presentations used for Hawaii are inappropriate or impractical for presentation with the Pacific Islands. Hawaii chapter figure and tables are cited below and appropriate Pacific Islands figure and table numbers are included in brackets ().

  1. The Use of Reanalysis Data for Wind Resource Assessment at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Elliott, D.; Schwartz, M.; George, R.

    1999-01-01

    An important component of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory wind resource assessment methodology is the use of available upper-air data to construct detailed vertical profiles for a study region. Currently, the most useful upper-air data for this type of analysis are archived observations from approximately 1800 rawinsonde and pilot balloon stations worldwide. However, significant uncertainty exists in the accuracy of the constructed profiles for many regions. The United States Reanalysis Data Set, recently created by the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction, has the potential to improve the quality of the vertical profiles. The initial evaluation of the usefulness of the Reanalysis data for wind resource assessment consisted of contrasting reanalysis-derived vertical profiles of the wind characteristics to those generated from upper-air observations for comparable locations. The results indicate that, while reanalysis data can be substituted for upper-air observation data in the assessment methodology for areas of the world where observation data are limited, enough discrepancies with observation data have been noticed to warrant further studies

  2. Tribal Wind Assessment by the Eastern Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pete, Belvin; Perry, Jeremy W.; Stump, Raphaella Q.

    2009-08-28

    The Tribes, through its consultant and advisor, Distributed Generation Systems (Disgen) -Native American Program and Resources Division, of Lakewood CO, assessed and qualified, from a resource and economic perspective, a wind energy generation facility on tribal lands. The goal of this feasibility project is to provide wind monitoring and to engage in preproject planning activities designed to provide a preliminary evaluation of the technical, economic, social and environmental feasibility of developing a sustainable, integrated wind energy plan for the Eastern Shoshone and the Northern Arapahoe Tribes, who resides on the Wind River Indian Reservation. The specific deliverables of the feasibility study are: 1) Assessments of the wind resources on the Wind River Indian Reservation 2) Assessments of the potential environmental impacts of renewable development 3) Assessments of the transmission capacity and capability of a renewable energy project 4) Established an economic models for tribal considerations 5) Define economic, cultural and societal impacts on the Tribe

  3. Wind Energy Resource Atlas of Armenia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Elliott, D.; Schwartz, M.; Scott, G.; Haymes, S.; Heimiller, D.; George, R.

    2003-07-01

    This wind energy resource atlas identifies the wind characteristics and distribution of the wind resource in the country of Armenia. The detailed wind resource maps and other information contained in the atlas facilitate the identification of prospective areas for use of wind energy technologies for utility-scale power generation and off-grid wind energy applications. The maps portray the wind resource with high-resolution (1-km2) grids of wind power density at 50-m above ground. The wind maps were created at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) using a computerized wind mapping system that uses Geographic Information System (GIS) software.

  4. Wind resource assessment: A three year experience

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Al-Abbadi, N.M.; Alawaji, S.H.; Eugenio, N.N. [Energy Research Institute (ERI), Riyadh (Saudi Arabia)

    1997-12-31

    This paper presents the results of data collected from three different sites located in the central, northern and eastern region of Saudi Arabia. Each site is geographically and climatologically different from the others. Statistical moments and frequency distributions were generated for the wind speed and direction parameters to analyse the wind energy characteristics and its availability. The results of these statistical operations present the wind power and energy density estimates of the three sites. The data analysis presented a prospect of wind energy conversion and utilization. The annual extractable energy density is 488, 890, 599 kWh/m{sup 2} for the central, northern and eastern sites respectively. Also, the paper demonstrates the lessons learned from operating wind assessment stations installed in remote areas having different environmental characteristics.

  5. Wind and solar resource data sets: Wind and solar resource data sets

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Clifton, Andrew [National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden CO USA; Hodge, Bri-Mathias [National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden CO USA; Power Systems Engineering Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden CO USA; Draxl, Caroline [National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden CO USA; National Wind Technology Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden CO USA; Badger, Jake [Department of Wind Energy, Danish Technical University, Copenhagen Denmark; Habte, Aron [National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden CO USA; Power Systems Engineering Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden CO USA

    2017-12-05

    The range of resource data sets spans from static cartography showing the mean annual wind speed or solar irradiance across a region to high temporal and high spatial resolution products that provide detailed information at a potential wind or solar energy facility. These data sets are used to support continental-scale, national, or regional renewable energy development; facilitate prospecting by developers; and enable grid integration studies. This review first provides an introduction to the wind and solar resource data sets, then provides an overview of the common methods used for their creation and validation. A brief history of wind and solar resource data sets is then presented, followed by areas for future research.

  6. Wind Energy Resource Atlas of Oaxaca

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Elliott, D.; Schwartz, M.; Scott, G.; Haymes, S.; Heimiller, D.; George, R.

    2003-08-01

    The Oaxaca Wind Resource Atlas, produced by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) wind resource group, is the result of an extensive mapping study for the Mexican State of Oaxaca. This atlas identifies the wind characteristics and distribution of the wind resource in Oaxaca. The detailed wind resource maps and other information contained in the atlas facilitate the identification of prospective areas for use of wind energy technologies, both for utility-scale power generation and off-grid wind energy applications.

  7. Wind energy resource atlas. Volume 7. The south central region

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Edwards, R.L.; Graves, L.F.; Sprankle, A.C.; Elliott, D.L.; Barchet, W.R.; George, R.L.

    1981-03-01

    This atlas of the south central region combines seven collections of wind resource data: one for the region, and one for each of the six states (Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas). At the state level, features of the climate, topography, and wind resource are discussed in greater detail than that provided in the regional discussion, and the data locations on which the assessment is based are mapped. Variations, over several time scales, in the wind resource at selected stations in each state are shown on graphs of monthly average and interannual wind speed and power, and hourly average wind speed for each season. Other graphs present speed, direction, and duration frequencies of the wind at these locations.

  8. Offshore wind resource estimation for wind energy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hasager, Charlotte Bay; Badger, Merete; Mouche, A.

    2010-01-01

    Satellite remote sensing from active and passive microwave instruments is used to estimate the offshore wind resource in the Northern European Seas in the EU-Norsewind project. The satellite data include 8 years of Envisat ASAR, 10 years of QuikSCAT, and 23 years of SSM/I. The satellite observati......Satellite remote sensing from active and passive microwave instruments is used to estimate the offshore wind resource in the Northern European Seas in the EU-Norsewind project. The satellite data include 8 years of Envisat ASAR, 10 years of QuikSCAT, and 23 years of SSM/I. The satellite...... observations are compared to selected offshore meteorological masts in the Baltic Sea and North Sea. The overall aim of the Norsewind project is a state-of-the-art wind atlas at 100 m height. The satellite winds are all valid at 10 m above sea level. Extrapolation to higher heights is a challenge. Mesoscale...... modeling of the winds at hub height will be compared to data from wind lidars observing at 100 m above sea level. Plans are also to compare mesoscale model results and satellite-based estimates of the offshore wind resource....

  9. Lake Michigan Offshore Wind Feasibility Assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boezaart, Arnold [GVSU; Edmonson, James [GVSU; Standridge, Charles [GVSU; Pervez, Nahid [GVSU; Desai, Neel [University of Michigan; Williams, Bruce [University of Delaware; Clark, Aaron [GVSU; Zeitler, David [GVSU; Kendall, Scott [GVSU; Biddanda, Bopi [GVSU; Steinman, Alan [GVSU; Klatt, Brian [Michigan State University; Gehring, J. L. [Michigan State University; Walter, K. [Michigan State University; Nordman, Erik E. [GVSU

    2014-06-30

    The purpose of this project was to conduct the first comprehensive offshore wind assessment over Lake Michigan and to advance the body of knowledge needed to support future commercial wind energy development on the Great Lakes. The project involved evaluation and selection of emerging wind measurement technology and the permitting, installation and operation of the first mid-lake wind assessment meteorological (MET) facilities in Michigan’s Great Lakes. In addition, the project provided the first opportunity to deploy and field test floating LIDAR and Laser Wind Sensor (LWS) technology, and important research related equipment key to the sitting and permitting of future offshore wind energy development in accordance with public participation guidelines established by the Michigan Great Lakes Wind Council (GLOW). The project created opportunities for public dialogue and community education about offshore wind resource management and continued the dialogue to foster Great Lake wind resource utilization consistent with the focus of the GLOW Council. The technology proved to be effective, affordable, mobile, and the methods of data measurement accurate. The public benefited from a substantial increase in knowledge of the wind resources over Lake Michigan and gained insights about the potential environmental impacts of offshore wind turbine placements in the future. The unique first ever hub height wind resource assessment using LWS technology over water and development of related research data along with the permitting, sitting, and deployment of the WindSentinel MET buoy has captured public attention and has helped to increase awareness of the potential of future offshore wind energy development on the Great Lakes. Specifically, this project supported the acquisition and operation of a WindSentinel (WS) MET wind assessment buoy, and associated research for 549 days over multiple years at three locations on Lake Michigan. Four research objectives were defined for the

  10. Offshore wind power resource assessment using Oceansat-2 scatterometer data at a regional scale

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gadad, Sanjeev; Deka, Paresh Chandra

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Accuracy assessment of Oceansat-2 scatterometer (OSCAT) winds by the in situ real-time ship observations for study area. • OSCAT data for two years (2011 and 2012) were used to evaluate the offshore wind power potential for the Karnataka state. • Wind speed and power atlases are developed to study the spatial distribution over study area. • 9,091 MW potential was estimated using 5 MW wind turbine in the Monopile region. • Recommend development of 10% of the estimated potential, 116% of energy deficit for 2012–13 can be met. - Abstract: In the offshore region the scarcity of in situ wind data in space proves to be a major setback for wind power potential assessments. Satellite data effectively overcomes this setback by providing continuous and total spatial coverage. The study intends to assess the offshore wind power resource of the Karnataka state, which is located on the west coast of India. Oceansat-2 scatterometer (OSCAT) wind data and GIS based methodology were adopted in the study. The OSCAT data accuracy was assessed using INCOIS Realtime All Weather Station (IRAWS) data. Wind speed maps at 10 m, 90 m and wind power density maps using OSCAT data were developed to understand the spatial distribution of winds over the study area. Bathymetric map was developed based on the available foundation types and demarking various exclusion zones to help in minimizing conflicts. The wind power generation capacity estimation performed using REpower 5 MW turbine, based on the water depth classes was found to be 9,091 MW in Monopile (0–35 m), 11,709 MW in Jacket (35–50 m), 23,689 MW in Advanced Jacket (50–100 m) and 117,681 MW in Floating (100–1000 m) foundation technology. In Indian scenario major thrust for wind farm development in Monopile region is required. Therefore as first phase of development, if 10% of the estimated potential in the region can be developed then, 116% of energy deficit for FY 2011–12 could be met. Also, up to 79

  11. Wind Energy Resource Atlas of the Philippines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Elliott, D.; Schwartz, M.; George, R.; Haymes, S.; Heimiller, D.; Scott, G.; McCarthy, E.

    2001-03-06

    This report contains the results of a wind resource analysis and mapping study for the Philippine archipelago. The study's objective was to identify potential wind resource areas and quantify the value of those resources within those areas. The wind resource maps and other wind resource characteristic information will be used to identify prospective areas for wind-energy applications.

  12. Rooftop wind resource assessment using a three-dimensional ultrasonic anemometer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Anderson, D.C.; Whale, J.; Livingston, P.O.; Chan, D. [Murdoch Univ., Murdoch, WA (Australia)

    2008-07-01

    Building integrated wind turbines (BUWTs) are designed for the built environment and can be located on or next to buildings. In general, these types of urban wind turbines are less than 20 kW in rated capacity, and have the potential to contribute to the energy needs of the building and reduce overall emissions. There are currently over 32 manufacturers and 57 different urban wind turbine products available in Europe alone. The first rooftop wind system in Australia was installed in 2006. To data, 5 systems have been installed and there are plans for up to 20 more. The main problems associated with these types of systems are due to poor wind resources at the location or improper site selection for the turbine. This paper reported on a research study into initiating best practice guidelines for rooftop wind systems. There is a concern that environmentally conscious homeowners or businesses will install rooftop wind systems in support of sustainability, but without adequate consideration of safety, structural building integrity or turbine performance. The potential consequence of such projects could be the failure of the project due to underperforming turbines, noise, and vibration; or the development of a negative reputation for wind energy and the renewable energy industry. This study included 2 primary initiatives, notably a computer simulated modeling exercise and an onsite rooftop wind monitoring station. This paper focused on the methodology and justification for developing the monitoring station. An ultrasonic 3D anemometer was used to collect data and to develop a 3D wind profile. The wind regime on the rooftop in the complex terrain of the built environment was highly dynamic, turbulent, and included a strong vertical component. It was concluded that site selection for turbines must be determined by a proper feasibility study involving accurate data. Although the initial phase of the project to predict the resource and deploy the monitoring station has been

  13. Assessment of Off-shore Wind Energy Resource in China using QuikSCAT Satellite data and SAR Satellite Images

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xiuzhi, Zhang; Yanbo, Shen; Jingwei, Xu

    2010-01-01

    From August 2008 to August 2009, the project ‘Off-Shore Wind Energy Resource Assessment and Feasibility Study of Off-Shore Wind Farm Development in China’ was carried out by China Meteorological Administration (CMA), which was funded by the EU-China Energy and Environment Programme (EEP). As one ...

  14. Wind Energy Resource Assessment on Alaska Native Lands in Cordova Region of Prince William Sound

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Whissel, John C. [Native Village of Eyak, Cordova, AK (United States); Piche, Matthew [Native Village of Eyak, Cordova, AK (United States)

    2015-06-29

    The Native Village of Eyak (NVE) has been monitoring wind resources around Cordova, Alaska in order to determine whether there is a role for wind energy to play in the city’s energy scheme, which is now supplies entirely by two run-of-the-river hydro plants and diesel generators. These data are reported in Appendices A and B. Because the hydro resources decline during winter months, and wind resources increase, wind is perhaps an ideal counterpart to round out Cordova’s renewable energy supply. The results of this effort suggests that this is the case, and that developing wind resources makes sense for our small, isolated community.

  15. A GIS-assisted approach to wide-area wind resource assessment and site selection for the state of Colorado

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brower, M.C. [Brower & Company, Andover, MA (United States); Hurley, P. [RLA Consulting, Bothell, WA (United States); Simon, R. [Consulting Meteorologist, Mill Valley, CA (United States)

    1996-12-31

    This paper describes the methodology and results of a wide-area wind resource assessment and site selection in Colorado. This was the first phase in a three-part assessment and monitoring program conducted for the State of Colorado Office of Energy Conservation and several collaborating utilities. The objective of this phase was to identify up to 20 candidate sites for evaluation and possible long-term monitoring. This was accomplished using a geographic information system (GIS), which takes into account such factors as topography, existing wind resource data, locations of transmission lines, land cover, and land use. The resulting list of sites recommended for evaluation in Phase 2 of the study includes locations throughout Colorado, but most are in the eastern plains. The GIS wind siting model may be modified and updated in the future as additional information becomes available. 3 figs., 1 tab.

  16. Wind resource analysis. Annual report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hardy, D. M.

    1978-12-01

    FY78 results of the Wind Resource Analyses task of the ERAB are described. Initial steps were taken to acquire modern atmosphere models of near-surface wind flow and primary data sets used in previous studies of national and regional wind resources. Because numerous assumptions are necessary to interpret available data in terms of wind energy potential, conclusions of previous studies differ considerably. These data analyses may be improved by future SERI research. State-of-the-art atmosphere models are a necessary component of the SERI wind resource analyses capacity. However, these methods also need to be tested and verified in diverse applications. The primary data sets and principal features of the models are discussed.

  17. Remapping of the Wind Energy Resource in the Midwestern United States: Preprint

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schwartz, M.; Elliot, D.

    2001-01-01

    A recent increase in interest and development of wind energy in the Midwestern United States has focused the need for updating wind resource maps of this area. The wind resource assessment group at the National Renewable Energy Lab., a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) laboratory, has produced updated high-resolution (1-km) wind resource maps for several states in this region. This abstract describes the computerized tools and methodology used by NREL to create the higher resolution maps

  18. The potential wind power resource in Australia: a new perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hallgren, Willow; Gunturu, Udaya Bhaskar; Schlosser, Adam

    2014-01-01

    Australia's wind resource is considered to be very good, and the utilization of this renewable energy resource is increasing rapidly: wind power installed capacity increased by 35% from 2006 to 2011 and is predicted to account for over 12% of Australia's electricity generation in 2030. Due to this growth in the utilization of the wind resource and the increasing importance of wind power in Australia's energy mix, this study sets out to analyze and interpret the nature of Australia's wind resources using robust metrics of the abundance, variability and intermittency of wind power density, and analyzes the variation of these characteristics with current and potential wind turbine hub heights. We also assess the extent to which wind intermittency, on hourly or greater timescales, can potentially be mitigated by the aggregation of geographically dispersed wind farms, and in so doing, lessen the severe impact on wind power economic viability of long lulls in wind and power generated. Our results suggest that over much of Australia, areas that have high wind intermittency coincide with large expanses in which the aggregation of turbine output does not mitigate variability. These areas are also geographically remote, some are disconnected from the east coast's electricity grid and large population centers, which are factors that could decrease the potential economic viability of wind farms in these locations. However, on the eastern seaboard, even though the wind resource is weaker, it is less variable, much closer to large population centers, and there exists more potential to mitigate it's intermittency through aggregation. This study forms a necessary precursor to the analysis of the impact of large-scale circulations and oscillations on the wind resource at the mesoscale.

  19. Wind Resource Atlas of Oaxaca (CD-ROM)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Elliott, D.; Schwartz, M.; Scott, G.; Haymes, S.; Heimiller, D.; George, R.

    2003-08-01

    The CD version of the Oaxaca Wind Resource Atlas, produced by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) wind resource group, is the result of an extensive mapping study for the Mexican State of Oaxaca. This atlas identifies the wind characteristics and distribution of the wind resource in Oaxaca. The detailed wind resource maps and other information contained in the atlas facilitate the identification of prospective areas for use of wind energy technologies, both for utility-scale power generation and off-grid wind energy applications.

  20. Wind Energy Resource Atlas of Mongolia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Elliott, D; Schwartz, M; Scott, G.; Haymes, S.; Heimiller, D.; George, R.

    2001-08-27

    The United States Department of Energy (DOE) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) sponsored a project to help accelerate the large-scale use of wind energy technologies in Mongolia through the development of a wind energy resource atlas of Mongolia. DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) administered and conducted this project in collaboration with USAID and Mongolia. The Mongolian organizations participating in this project were the Scientific, Production, and Trade Corporation for Renewable Energy (REC) and the Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (IMH). The primary goals of the project were to develop detailed wind resource maps for all regions of Mongolia for a comprehensive wind resource atlas, and to establish a wind-monitoring program to identify prospective sites for wind energy projects and help validate some of the wind resource estimates.

  1. Wind energy resource atlas. Volume 8. The southern Rocky Mountain region

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Andersen, S.R.; Freeman, D.L.; Hadley, D.L.; Elliott, D.L.; Barchet, W.R.; George, R.L.

    1981-03-01

    The Southern Rocky Mountain atlas assimilates five collections of wind resource data: one for the region and one for each of the four states that compose the Southern Rocky Mountain region (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah). At the state level, features of the climate, topography and wind resource are discussed in greater detail than is provided in the regional discussion, and the data locations on which the assessment is based are mapped. Variations, over several time scales, in the wind resource at selected stations in each state are shown on graphs of monthly average and interannual wind speed and power, and hourly average wind speed for each season. Other graphs present speed, direction, and duration frequencies of the wind at these locations.

  2. The Potential Wind Power Resource in Australia: A New Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hallgren, Willow; Gunturu, Udaya Bhaskar; Schlosser, Adam

    2014-01-01

    Australia’s wind resource is considered to be very good, and the utilization of this renewable energy resource is increasing rapidly: wind power installed capacity increased by 35% from 2006 to 2011 and is predicted to account for over 12% of Australia’s electricity generation in 2030. Due to this growth in the utilization of the wind resource and the increasing importance of wind power in Australia’s energy mix, this study sets out to analyze and interpret the nature of Australia’s wind resources using robust metrics of the abundance, variability and intermittency of wind power density, and analyzes the variation of these characteristics with current and potential wind turbine hub heights. We also assess the extent to which wind intermittency, on hourly or greater timescales, can potentially be mitigated by the aggregation of geographically dispersed wind farms, and in so doing, lessen the severe impact on wind power economic viability of long lulls in wind and power generated. Our results suggest that over much of Australia, areas that have high wind intermittency coincide with large expanses in which the aggregation of turbine output does not mitigate variability. These areas are also geographically remote, some are disconnected from the east coast’s electricity grid and large population centers, which are factors that could decrease the potential economic viability of wind farms in these locations. However, on the eastern seaboard, even though the wind resource is weaker, it is less variable, much closer to large population centers, and there exists more potential to mitigate it’s intermittency through aggregation. This study forms a necessary precursor to the analysis of the impact of large-scale circulations and oscillations on the wind resource at the mesoscale. PMID:24988222

  3. The potential wind power resource in Australia: a new perspective.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Willow Hallgren

    Full Text Available Australia's wind resource is considered to be very good, and the utilization of this renewable energy resource is increasing rapidly: wind power installed capacity increased by 35% from 2006 to 2011 and is predicted to account for over 12% of Australia's electricity generation in 2030. Due to this growth in the utilization of the wind resource and the increasing importance of wind power in Australia's energy mix, this study sets out to analyze and interpret the nature of Australia's wind resources using robust metrics of the abundance, variability and intermittency of wind power density, and analyzes the variation of these characteristics with current and potential wind turbine hub heights. We also assess the extent to which wind intermittency, on hourly or greater timescales, can potentially be mitigated by the aggregation of geographically dispersed wind farms, and in so doing, lessen the severe impact on wind power economic viability of long lulls in wind and power generated. Our results suggest that over much of Australia, areas that have high wind intermittency coincide with large expanses in which the aggregation of turbine output does not mitigate variability. These areas are also geographically remote, some are disconnected from the east coast's electricity grid and large population centers, which are factors that could decrease the potential economic viability of wind farms in these locations. However, on the eastern seaboard, even though the wind resource is weaker, it is less variable, much closer to large population centers, and there exists more potential to mitigate it's intermittency through aggregation. This study forms a necessary precursor to the analysis of the impact of large-scale circulations and oscillations on the wind resource at the mesoscale.

  4. Cost of wind energy: comparing distant wind resources to local resources in the midwestern United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoppock, David C; Patiño-Echeverri, Dalia

    2010-11-15

    The best wind sites in the United States are often located far from electricity demand centers and lack transmission access. Local sites that have lower quality wind resources but do not require as much power transmission capacity are an alternative to distant wind resources. In this paper, we explore the trade-offs between developing new wind generation at local sites and installing wind farms at remote sites. We first examine the general relationship between the high capital costs required for local wind development and the relatively lower capital costs required to install a wind farm capable of generating the same electrical output at a remote site,with the results representing the maximum amount an investor should be willing to pay for transmission access. We suggest that this analysis can be used as a first step in comparing potential wind resources to meet a state renewable portfolio standard (RPS). To illustrate, we compare the cost of local wind (∼50 km from the load) to the cost of distant wind requiring new transmission (∼550-750 km from the load) to meet the Illinois RPS. We find that local, lower capacity factor wind sites are the lowest cost option for meeting the Illinois RPS if new long distance transmission is required to access distant, higher capacity factor wind resources. If higher capacity wind sites can be connected to the existing grid at minimal cost, in many cases they will have lower costs.

  5. Wind Resource Estimation using QuikSCAT Ocean Surface Winds

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xu, Qing; Zhang, Guosheng; Cheng, Yongcun

    2011-01-01

    In this study, the offshore wind resources in the East China Sea and South China Sea were estimated from over ten years of QuikSCAT scatterometer wind products. Since the errors of these products are larger close to the coast due to the land contamination of radar backscatter signal...... and the complexity of air-sea interaction processes, an empirical relationship that adjusts QuikSCAT winds in coastal waters was first proposed based on vessel measurements. Then the shape and scale parameters of Weibull function are determined for wind resource estimation. The wind roses are also plotted. Results...

  6. Satellite SAR wind resource mapping in China (SAR-China)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Badger, Merete

    The project ‘Off-Shore Wind Energy Resource Assessment and Feasibility Study of Off-Shore Wind Farm Development in China’ is funded by the EU-China Energy and Environment Programme (EEP) and runs for one year (August 2008 - August 2009). The project is lead by the China Meteorological Administrat...

  7. Preliminary results of Aruba wind resource assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Guda, M.H. [Fundashon Antiyano Pa Energia, Curacao (Netherlands Antilles)

    1996-12-31

    As part of a project to assess the possibilities for wind energy utilitization in the Dutch Antilles islands, windspeed and -direction data were collected in Aruba for two years, from March 1992 to February 1994. Five sites that were estimated to be representative for the islands` wind regimes, were monitored during this period: two sites on the windward coast, one east and one west; two inland sites, again one east and one west, and one site topping the cliffs overlooking the eastern windward coast. Additionally, twenty years worth of data were analyzed for the reference site at the airport, which is in the middle part of the island, on the leeward coast. Correlation calculations between these data and the data for the project sites were performed, in order to establish a methodology for estimating the long-term behavior of the wind regimes at these sites. 8 figs., 3 tabs.

  8. Application of an atmospheric CFD code to wind resource assessment in complex terrain

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Laporte, Laurent

    2008-01-01

    This thesis is organized in two parts. The first part presents the use of the atmospheric CFD code Mercure Saturne to estimate the wind resource in complex terrain. A measurement campaign was led by EDF to obtain data for validation. A methodology was developed using meso-scale profiles as boundary conditions. Clustering of meteorological situations was used to reduce the number of simulations needed to calculate the wind resource. The validation of the code on the Askervein hill, the methodology and comparisons with measurements from the complex site are presented. The second part presents the modeling of wakes with the Mercure Saturne code. Forces, generated by the blades on the wind, are modeled by source terms, calculated by the BEM method. Two comparisons are proposed to validate the method: the first compares the numerical model with wind tunnel measurements from a small wind turbine, the second with measurements made on porous disks in an atmospheric boundary layer wind tunnel (author) [fr

  9. Calculation of depleted wind resources near wind farms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Morten

    2015-01-01

    Traditional wind resource maps include wind distribution, energy density and potential power production without wake effects. Adding wake effect to such maps is feasible by means of a new method based on Fourier transformation,and the extra computational work is comparable to that of the basic wind...

  10. A Comparison of Wind Flow Models for Wind Resource Assessment in Wind Energy Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mathieu Landry

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this work was to assess the accuracy of various coupled mesoscale-microscale wind flow modeling methodologies for wind energy applications. This is achieved by examining and comparing mean wind speeds from several wind flow modeling methodologies with observational measurements from several 50 m met towers distributed across the study area. At the mesoscale level, with a 5 km resolution, two scenarios are examined based on the Mesoscale Compressible Community Model (MC2 model: the Canadian Wind Energy Atlas (CWEA scenario, which is based on standard input data, and the CWEA High Definition (CWEAHD scenario where high resolution land cover input data is used. A downscaling of the obtained mesoscale wind climate to the microscale level is then performed, where two linear microscale models, i.e., MsMicro and the Wind Atlas Analysis and Application Program (WAsP, are evaluated following three downscaling scenarios: CWEA-WAsP, CWEA-MsMicro and CWEAHD-MsMicro. Results show that, for the territory studied, with a modeling approach based on the MC2 and MsMicro models, also known as Wind Energy Simulation Toolkit (WEST, the use of high resolution land cover and topography data at the mesoscale level helps reduce modeling errors for both the mesoscale and microscale models, albeit only marginally. At the microscale level, results show that the MC2-WAsP modeling approach gave substantially better results than both MC2 and MsMicro modeling approaches due to tweaked meso-micro coupling.

  11. Current Status and Challenges in Wind Energy Assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gryning, Sven-Erik; Badger, Jake; Hahmann, Andrea N.

    2014-01-01

    Here we discuss the status and challenges in the development of atlases for the assessment of the regional and global wind resources. The text more specifically describes a methodology that is under development at DTU Wind Energy in Denmark. As the wind assessment is based on mesoscale modelling,......, some of the specific challenges in mesoscale modelling for wind energy purposes are discussed such as wind profiles and long-term statistics of the wind speed time series. Solutions to these challenges will help secure an economic and effective deployment of wind energy....

  12. Assessing offshore wind potential

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adelaja, Adesoji; McKeown, Charles; Calnin, Benjamin; Hailu, Yohannes

    2012-01-01

    Quantifying wind potential is a pivotal initial step in developing and articulating a state’s policies and strategies for offshore wind industry development. This is particularly important in the Great Lakes States where lessons from other offshore environments are not directly applicable. This paper presents the framework developed for conducting a preliminary assessment of offshore wind potential. Information on lake bathymetry and wind resources were combined in simulating alternative scenarios of technically feasible turbine construction depths and distance concerns by stakeholders. These yielded estimates of developable offshore wind areas and potential power generation. While concerns about the visibility of turbines from shore reduce the power that can be generated, engineering solutions that increase the depths at which turbines can be sited increase such potential power output. This paper discusses the costs associated with technical limitations on depth and the social costs related to public sentiments about distance from the shoreline, as well as the possible tradeoffs. The results point to a very large untapped energy resource in the Michigan’s Great Lakes, large enough to prompt policy action from the state government. - Highlights: ▶ We build a theoretical framework for modeling offshore wind power production. ▶ Illustration of the impact of technology and social limitations on offshore wind energy development. ▶ Geospatial modeling of the offshore wind potential of the Great Lakes.

  13. Wind and solar resource data sets

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Clifton, Andrew; Hodge, Bri-Mathias; Draxl, Caroline

    2017-01-01

    The range of resource data sets spans from static cartography showing the mean annual wind speed or solar irradiance across a region to high temporal and high spatial resolution products that provide detailed information at a potential wind or solar energy facility. These data sets are used...... to support continental-scale, national, or regional renewable energy development; facilitate prospecting by developers; and enable grid integration studies. This review first provides an introduction to the wind and solar resource data sets, then provides an overview of the common methods used...... for their creation and validation. A brief history of wind and solar resource data sets is then presented, followed by areas for future research. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website....

  14. Estimation of wind and solar resources in Mali

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Badger, J.; Kamissoko, F.; Olander Rasmussen, M.; Larsen, Soeren; Guidon, N.; Boye Hansen, L.; Dewilde, L.; Alhousseini, M.; Noergaard, P.; Nygaard, I.

    2012-11-15

    The wind resource has been estimated for all of Mali at 7.5 km resolution using the KAMM/WAsP numerical wind atlas methodology. Three domains were used to cover entire country and three sets of wind classes used to capture change in large scale forcing over country. The final output includes generalized climate statistics for any location in Mali, giving wind direction and wind speed distribution. The modelled generalized climate statistics can be used directly in the WAsP software. The preliminary results show a wind resource, which is relatively low, but which under certain conditions may be economically feasible, i.e. at favourably exposed sites, giving enhanced winds, and where practical utilization is possible, given consideration to grid connection or replacement or augmentation of diesel-based electricity systems. The solar energy resource for Mali was assessed for the period between July 2008 and June 2011 using a remote sensing based estimate of the down-welling surface shortwave flux. The remote sensing estimates were adjusted on a month-by-month basis to account for seasonal differences between the remote sensing estimates and in situ data. Calibration was found to improve the coefficient of determination as well as decreasing the mean error both for the calibration and validation data. Compared to the results presented in the ''Renewable energy resources in Mali - preliminary mapping''-report that showed a tendency for underestimation compared to data from the NASA PPOWER/SSE database, the presented results show a very good agreement with the in situ data (after calibration) with no significant bias. Unfortunately, the NASA-database only contains data up until 2005, so a similar comparison could not be done for the time period analyzed in this study, although the agreement with the historic NASA data is still useful as reference. (LN)

  15. Avian Monitoring and Risk Assessment at the San Gorgonio Wind Resource Area

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Anderson, R.; Tom, J.; Neumann, N.; Erickson, W. P.; Strickland, M. D.; Bourassa, M.; Bay, K. J.; Sernka, K. J.

    2005-08-01

    The primary objective of this study at the San Gorgonio Wind Resource Area was to estimate and compare bird utilization, fatality rates, and the risk index among factors including bird taxonomic groups, wind turbine and reference areas, wind turbine sizes and types, and geographic locations. The key questions addressed to meet this objective include: (1) Are there any differences in the level of bird activity, called ''utilization rate'' or ''use'', with the operating wind plant and within the surrounding undeveloped areas (reference area)?; (2) Are there any differences in the rate of bird fatalities (or avian fatality) within the operating wind plant or the surrounding undeveloped areas (reference area)?; (3) Does bird use, fatality rates, or bird risk index vary according to the geographic location, type and size of wind turbine, and/or type of bird within the operating wind plant and surrounding undeveloped areas (reference area)?; and (4) How do raptor fatality rates at San Gorgonio compare to other wind projects with comparable data?

  16. National Wind Technology Center sitewide, Golden, CO: Environmental assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1996-11-01

    The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the nation`s primary solar and renewable energy research laboratory, proposes to expand its wind technology research and development program activities at its National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) near Golden, Colorado. NWTC is an existing wind energy research facility operated by NREL for the US Department of Energy (DOE). Proposed activities include the construction and reuse of buildings and facilities, installation of up to 20 wind turbine test sites, improvements in infrastructure, and subsequent research activities, technology testing, and site operations. In addition to wind turbine test activities, NWTC may be used to support other NREL program activities and small-scale demonstration projects. This document assesses potential consequences to resources within the physical, biological, and human environment, including potential impacts to: air quality, geology and soils, water resources, biological resources, cultural and historic resources, socioeconomic resources, land use, visual resources, noise environment, hazardous materials and waste management, and health and safety conditions. Comment letters were received from several agencies in response to the scoping and predecisional draft reviews. The comments have been incorporated as appropriate into the document with full text of the letters contained in the Appendices. Additionally, information from the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site on going sitewide assessment of potential environmental impacts has been reviewed and discussed by representatives of both parties and incorporated into the document as appropriate.

  17. National Wind Technology Center sitewide, Golden, CO: Environmental assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1996-11-01

    The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the nation's primary solar and renewable energy research laboratory, proposes to expand its wind technology research and development program activities at its National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) near Golden, Colorado. NWTC is an existing wind energy research facility operated by NREL for the US Department of Energy (DOE). Proposed activities include the construction and reuse of buildings and facilities, installation of up to 20 wind turbine test sites, improvements in infrastructure, and subsequent research activities, technology testing, and site operations. In addition to wind turbine test activities, NWTC may be used to support other NREL program activities and small-scale demonstration projects. This document assesses potential consequences to resources within the physical, biological, and human environment, including potential impacts to: air quality, geology and soils, water resources, biological resources, cultural and historic resources, socioeconomic resources, land use, visual resources, noise environment, hazardous materials and waste management, and health and safety conditions. Comment letters were received from several agencies in response to the scoping and predecisional draft reviews. The comments have been incorporated as appropriate into the document with full text of the letters contained in the Appendices. Additionally, information from the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site on going sitewide assessment of potential environmental impacts has been reviewed and discussed by representatives of both parties and incorporated into the document as appropriate

  18. Terminology Guideline for Classifying Offshore Wind Energy Resources

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Beiter, Philipp [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Musial, Walt [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2016-09-01

    The purpose of this guideline is to establish a clear and consistent vocabulary for conveying offshore wind resource potential and to interpret this vocabulary in terms that are familiar to the oil and gas (O&G) industry. This involves clarifying and refining existing definitions of offshore wind energy resource classes. The terminology developed in this guideline represents one of several possible sets of vocabulary that may differ with respect to their purpose, data availability, and comprehensiveness. It was customized to correspond with established offshore wind practices and existing renewable energy industry terminology (e.g. DOE 2013, Brown et al. 2015) while conforming to established fossil resource classification as best as possible. The developers of the guideline recognize the fundamental differences that exist between fossil and renewable energy resources with respect to availability, accessibility, lifetime, and quality. Any quantitative comparison between fossil and renewable energy resources, including offshore wind, is therefore limited. For instance, O&G resources are finite and there may be significant uncertainty associated with the amount of the resource. In contrast, aboveground renewable resources, such as offshore wind, do not generally deplete over time but can vary significantly subhourly, daily, seasonally, and annually. The intent of this guideline is to make these differences transparent and develop an offshore wind resource classification that conforms to established fossil resource classifications where possible. This guideline also provides methods to quantitatively compare certain offshore wind energy resources to O&G resource classes for specific applications. Finally, this guideline identifies areas where analogies to established O&G terminology may be inappropriate or subject to misinterpretation.

  19. A comprehensive measure of the energy resource: Wind power potential (WPP)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Jie; Chowdhury, Souma; Messac, Achille

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • A more comprehensive metric is developed to accurately assess the quality of wind resources at a site. • WPP exploits the joint distribution of wind speed and direction, and yields more credible estimates. • WPP investigates the effect of wind distribution on the optimal net power generation of a farm. • The results show that WPD and WPP follow different trends. - Abstract: Currently, the quality of available wind energy at a site is assessed using wind power density (WPD). This paper proposes to use a more comprehensive metric: the wind power potential (WPP). While the former accounts for only wind speed information, the latter exploits the joint distribution of wind speed and wind direction and yields more credible estimates. The WPP investigates the effect of wind velocity distribution on the optimal net power generation of a farm. A joint distribution of wind speed and direction is used to characterize the stochastic variation of wind conditions. Two joint distribution methods are adopted in this paper: bivariate normal distribution and anisotropic lognormal method. The net power generation for a particular farmland size and installed capacity is maximized for different distributions of wind speed and wind direction, using the Unrestricted Wind Farm Layout Optimization (UWFLO) framework. A response surface is constructed to represent the computed maximum wind farm capacity factor as a function of the parameters of the wind distribution. Two different response surface methods are adopted in this paper: (i) the adaptive hybrid functions (AHF), and (ii) the quadratic response surface method (QRSM). Toward this end, for any farm site, we can (i) estimate the parameters of the joint distribution using recorded wind data (for bivariate normal or anisotropic lognormal distributions) and (ii) predict the maximum capacity factor for a specified farm size and capacity using this response surface. The WPP metric is illustrated using recorded wind

  20. Characterization of wind power resource and its intermittency

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gunturu, U. B.; Schlosser, C. A.

    2011-12-01

    Wind resource in the continental and offshore United States has been calculated and characterized using metrics that describe - apart from abundance - its availability, persistence and intermittency. The Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) boundary layer flux data has been used to construct wind power density profiles at 50, 80, 100 and 120 m turbine hub heights. The wind power density estimates at 50 m are qualitatively similar to those in the US wind atlas developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), but quantitatively a class less in some regions, but are within the limits of uncertainty. We also show that for long tailed distributions like those of the wind power density, the mean is an overestimation and median is a more robust metric for summary representation of wind power resource.Generally speaking, the largest and most available wind power density resources are found in off-shore regions of the Atlantic and Pacific coastline, and the largest on-shore resource potential lies in the central United States. However, the intermittency and widespread synchronicity of on-shore wind power density are substantial, and highlights areas where considerable back-up generation technologies will be required. Generation-duration curves are also presented for the independent systems operator (ISO) zones of the U.S. to highlight the regions with the largest capacity factor (MISO, ERCOT, and SWPP) as well as the periods and extent to which all ISOs contain no wind power and the potential benefits of aggregation on wind power intermittency in each region. The impact of raising the wind turbine hub height on metrics of abundance, persistence, variability and intermittency is analyzed. There is a general increase in availability and abundance of wind resource but there is also an increase in intermittency with respect to a 'usable wind power' crossing level in low resource regions. A similar perspective of wind resource for

  1. Wind Energy Resource Atlas of Sri Lanka and the Maldives

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Elliott, D.; Schwartz, M.; Scott, G.; Haymes, S.; Heimiller, D.; George, R.

    2003-08-01

    The Wind Energy Resource Atlas of Sri Lanka and the Maldives, produced by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) wind resource group identifies the wind characteristics and distribution of the wind resource in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. The detailed wind resource maps and other information contained in the atlas facilitate the identification of prospective areas for use of wind energy technologies, both for utility-scale power generation and off-grid wind energy applications.

  2. Assessing climate change impacts on the near-term stability of the wind energy resource over the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pryor, S C; Barthelmie, R J

    2011-05-17

    The energy sector comprises approximately two-thirds of global total greenhouse gas emissions. For this and other reasons, renewable energy resources including wind power are being increasingly harnessed to provide electricity generation potential with negligible emissions of carbon dioxide. The wind energy resource is naturally a function of the climate system because the "fuel" is the incident wind speed and thus is determined by the atmospheric circulation. Some recent articles have reported historical declines in measured near-surface wind speeds, leading some to question the continued viability of the wind energy industry. Here we briefly articulate the challenges inherent in accurately quantifying and attributing historical tendencies and making robust projections of likely future wind resources. We then analyze simulations from the current generation of regional climate models and show, at least for the next 50 years, the wind resource in the regions of greatest wind energy penetration will not move beyond the historical envelope of variability. Thus this work suggests that the wind energy industry can, and will, continue to make a contribution to electricity provision in these regions for at least the next several decades.

  3. Quantifying offshore wind resources from satellite wind maps: Study area the North Sea

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hasager, Charlotte Bay; Barthelmie, Rebecca Jane; Christiansen, Merete B.

    2006-01-01

    Offshore wind resources are quantified from satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and satellite scatterometer observations at local and regional scale respectively at the Horns Rev site in Denmark. The method for wind resource estimation from satellite observations interfaces with the wind atlas...... of the Horns Rev wind farm is quantified from satellite SAR images and compared with state-of-the-art wake model results with good agreement. It is a unique method using satellite observations to quantify the spatial extent of the wake behind large offshore wind farms. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd....... analysis and application program (WAsP). An estimate of the wind resource at the new project site at Horns Rev is given based on satellite SAR observations. The comparison of offshore satellite scatterometer winds, global model data and in situ data shows good agreement. Furthermore, the wake effect...

  4. Wind class sampling of satellite SAR imagery for offshore wind resource mapping

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Badger, Merete; Badger, Jake; Nielsen, Morten

    2010-01-01

    developed for mesoscale modeling of wind resources. Its performance in connection with sampling of SAR scenes is tested against two sets of random SAR samples and meteorological observations at three sites in the North Sea during 2005–08. Predictions of the mean wind speed and the Weibull scale parameter......High-resolution wind fields retrieved from satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery are combined for mapping of wind resources offshore where site measurements are costly and sparse. A new sampling strategy for the SAR scenes is introduced, based on a method for statistical......-dynamical downscaling of large-scale wind conditions using a set of wind classes that describe representative wind situations. One or more SAR scenes are then selected to represent each wind class and the classes are weighted according to their frequency of occurrence. The wind class methodology was originally...

  5. Total, accessible and reserve wind energy resources in Bulgaria

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ivanov, P.; Trifonova, L.

    1996-01-01

    The article is a part of the international project 'Bulgaria Country Study to Address Climate Change Inventory of the Greenhouse Gases Emission and Sinks Alternative Energy Balance and Technology Programs' sponsored by the Department of Energy, US. The 'total' average annual wind resources in Bulgaria determined on the basis wind velocity density for more than 100 meteorological stations are estimated on 125 000 TWh. For the whole territory the theoretical wind power potential is about 14200 GW. The 'accessible' wind resources are estimated on about 62000 TWh. The 'reserve' (or usable) wind resources are determined using 8 velocity intervals for WECS (Wind Energy Conversion Systems) operation, number and disposition of turbines, and the usable (3%) part of the territory. The annual reserve resources are estimated at about 21 - 33 TWh. The 'economically beneficial' wind resources (EBWR) are those part of the reserve resources which could be included in the country energy balance using specific technologies in specific time period. It is foreseen that at year 2010 the EBWR could reach 0.028 TWh. 7 refs., 2 tabs., 1 fig

  6. Estimating the Wind Resource in Uttarakhand: Comparison of Dynamic Downscaling with Doppler Lidar Wind Measurements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lundquist, J. K. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Pukayastha, A. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Martin, C. [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); Newsom, R. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

    2014-03-01

    Previous estimates of the wind resources in Uttarakhand, India, suggest minimal wind resources in this region. To explore whether or not the complex terrain in fact provides localized regions of wind resource, the authors of this study employed a dynamic down scaling method with the Weather Research and Forecasting model, providing detailed estimates of winds at approximately 1 km resolution in the finest nested simulation.

  7. Year-to-year correlation, record length, and overconfidence in wind resource assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. Bodini

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Interannual variability of wind speeds presents a fundamental source of uncertainty in preconstruction energy estimates. Our analysis of one of the longest and geographically most widespread extant sets of instrumental wind-speed observations (62-year records from 60 stations in Canada shows that deviations from mean resource levels persist over many decades, substantially increasing uncertainty. As a result of this persistence, the performance of each site's last 20 years diverges more widely than expected from the P50 level estimated from its first 42 years: half the sites have either fewer than 5 or more than 15 years exceeding the P50 estimate. In contrast to this 10-year-wide interquartile range, a 4-year-wide range (2.5 times narrower was found for "control" records where statistical independence was enforced by randomly permuting each station's historical values. Similarly, for sites with capacity factor of 0.35 and interannual variability of 6  %, one would expect 9 years in 10 to fall in the range 0.32–0.38; we find the actual 90  % range to be 0.27–0.43, or three times wider. The previously un-quantified effect of serial correlations favors a shift in resource-assessment thinking from a climatology-focused approach to a persistence-focused approach: for this data set, no improvement in P50 error is gained by using records longer than 4–5 years, and use of records longer than 20 years actually degrades accuracy.

  8. Connecting Communities to Wind Resources

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Baring-Gould, Edward I [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2017-08-18

    WINDExchange is the platform for the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Wind Energy Technologies Office to disseminate credible wind energy information on a national level. Stakeholder engagement and outreach activities are designed to enable well-informed decisions about appropriate wind energy deployment. WINDExchange focuses on wind energy outreach at the national level while managing and supporting similar regional efforts through the implementation of DOE Regional Resource Centers (RRCs). This fact sheet provides an overview of DOE's WINDExchange initiative and the RRCs. Examples of RRC activities are provided.

  9. Wind Resource Assessment and Requested Wind Turbine Recommendations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Smith, Ken [Municipal Civil Corporation, Gas City, IN (United States); Wolar, John [Municipal Civil Corporation, Gas City, IN (United States)

    2012-10-22

    Alternate Energy Solutions, Inc. (“AESWR”) was engaged by the Town of Brookston (“Brookston”) to assemble, erect and maintain one 60 m XHD meteorological tower manufactured by NRG Systems, Inc.; for monitoring, recording and evaluating collected wind data. It is the opinion of AESWR staff that study results support the development of a wind turbine project at the Bol Family Farm provided: a) additional land is leased for the project; b) project construction costs are controlled; and c) a prudent power purchase agreement is negotiated with a power take-off entity. We believe that a project having an aggregate nameplate rating sized from 6.0 MW to 20 MW would be appropriate for this location. We recommend 100-125 acres of land per installed MW be used as a general rule for acquiring wind energy land lease agreements, total land lease holdings to be acquired would then approach 750 acres to 2,500 acres.

  10. Thermodynamic performance assessment of wind energy systems: An application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Redha, Adel Mohammed; Dincer, Ibrahim; Gadalla, Mohamed

    2011-01-01

    In this paper, the performance of wind energy system is assessed thermodynamically, from resource and technology perspectives. The thermodynamic characteristics of wind through energy and exergy analyses are considered and both energetic and exergetic efficiencies are studied. Wind speed is affected by air temperature and pressure and has a subsequent effect on wind turbine performance based on wind reference temperature and Bernoulli's equation. VESTAS V52 wind turbine is selected for (Sharjah/UAE). Energy and exergy efficiency equations for wind energy systems are further developed for practical applications. The results show that there are noticeable differences between energy and exergy efficiencies and that exergetic efficiency reflects the right/actual performance. Finally, exergy analysis has been proven to be the right tool used in design, simulation, and performance evaluation of all renewable energy systems. -- Highlights: → In this research the performance of wind energy system is assessed thermodynamically, from resource and technology perspectives. → Energy and exergy equations for wind energy systems are further developed for practical applications. → Thermodynamic characteristics of wind turbine systems through energetic and exergetic efficiencies are evaluated from January till March 2010. → Exergy efficiency describes the system irreversibility and the minimum irreversibility exists when the wind speed reaches 11 m/s. → The power production during March was about 17% higher than the month of February and 66% higher than January.

  11. Wind/solar resource in Texas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nelson, V.; Starcher, K.; Gaines, H. [West Texas A& M Univ., Canyon, TX (United States)

    1997-12-31

    Data are being collected at 17 sites to delineate a baseline for the wind and solar resource across Texas. Wind data are being collected at 10, 25, and 40 m (in some cases at 50 m) to determine wind shear and power at hub heights of large turbines. Many of the sites are located in areas of predicted terrain enhancement. The typical day in a month for power and wind turbine output was calculated for selected sites and combination of sites; distributed systems. Major result to date is that there is the possibility of load matching in South Texas during the summer months, even though the average values by month indicate a low wind potential.

  12. Asynchrony of wind and hydropower resources in Australia

    KAUST Repository

    Gunturu, Udaya

    2017-08-14

    Wind and hydropower together constitute nearly 80% of the renewable capacity in Australia and their resources are collocated. We show that wind and hydro generation capacity factors covary negatively at the interannual time scales. Thus, the technology diversity mitigates the variability of renewable power generation at the interannual scales. The asynchrony of wind and hydropower resources is explained by the differential impact of the two modes of the El Ni˜no Southern Oscillation – canonical and Modoki – on the wind and hydro resources. Also, the Modoki El Ni˜no and the Modoki La Ni˜na phases have greater impact. The seasonal impact patterns corroborate these results. As the proportion of wind power increases in Australia’s energy mix, this negative covariation has implications for storage capacity of excess wind generation at short time scales and for generation system adequacy at the longer time scales.

  13. Asynchrony of wind and hydropower resources in Australia

    KAUST Repository

    Gunturu, Udaya; Hallgren, Willow

    2017-01-01

    Wind and hydropower together constitute nearly 80% of the renewable capacity in Australia and their resources are collocated. We show that wind and hydro generation capacity factors covary negatively at the interannual time scales. Thus, the technology diversity mitigates the variability of renewable power generation at the interannual scales. The asynchrony of wind and hydropower resources is explained by the differential impact of the two modes of the El Ni˜no Southern Oscillation – canonical and Modoki – on the wind and hydro resources. Also, the Modoki El Ni˜no and the Modoki La Ni˜na phases have greater impact. The seasonal impact patterns corroborate these results. As the proportion of wind power increases in Australia’s energy mix, this negative covariation has implications for storage capacity of excess wind generation at short time scales and for generation system adequacy at the longer time scales.

  14. Asynchrony of wind and hydropower resources in Australia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gunturu, Udaya Bhaskar; Hallgren, Willow

    2017-08-18

    Wind and hydropower together constitute nearly 80% of the renewable capacity in Australia and their resources are collocated. We show that wind and hydro generation capacity factors covary negatively at the interannual time scales. Thus, the technology diversity mitigates the variability of renewable power generation at the interannual scales. The asynchrony of wind and hydropower resources is explained by the differential impact of the two modes of the El Ni˜no Southern Oscillation - canonical and Modoki - on the wind and hydro resources. Also, the Modoki El Ni˜no and the Modoki La Ni˜na phases have greater impact. The seasonal impact patterns corroborate these results. As the proportion of wind power increases in Australia's energy mix, this negative covariation has implications for storage capacity of excess wind generation at short time scales and for generation system adequacy at the longer time scales.

  15. Environmental assessment: Kotzebue Wind Installation Project, Kotzebue, Alaska

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1998-05-01

    The DOE is proposing to provide financial assistance to the Kotzebue Electric Association to expand its existing wind installation near Kotzebue, Alaska. Like many rural Alaska towns, Kotzebue uses diesel-powered generators to produce its electricity, the high cost of which is currently subsidized by the Alaska State government. In an effort to provide a cost effective and clean source of electricity, reduce dependence on diesel fuel, and reduce air pollutants, the DOE is proposing to fund an experimental wind installation to test commercially available wind turbines under Arctic conditions. The results would provide valuable information to other Alaska communities experiencing similar dependence on diesel-powered generators. The environmental assessment for the proposed wind installation assessed impacts to biological resources, land use, electromagnetic interference, coastal zone, air quality, cultural resources, and noise. It was determined that the project does not constitute a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. Therefore, the preparation of an environmental impact statement is not required, and DOE has issued a Finding of No Significant Impact

  16. Environmental assessment: Kotzebue Wind Installation Project, Kotzebue, Alaska

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1998-05-01

    The DOE is proposing to provide financial assistance to the Kotzebue Electric Association to expand its existing wind installation near Kotzebue, Alaska. Like many rural Alaska towns, Kotzebue uses diesel-powered generators to produce its electricity, the high cost of which is currently subsidized by the Alaska State government. In an effort to provide a cost effective and clean source of electricity, reduce dependence on diesel fuel, and reduce air pollutants, the DOE is proposing to fund an experimental wind installation to test commercially available wind turbines under Arctic conditions. The results would provide valuable information to other Alaska communities experiencing similar dependence on diesel-powered generators. The environmental assessment for the proposed wind installation assessed impacts to biological resources, land use, electromagnetic interference, coastal zone, air quality, cultural resources, and noise. It was determined that the project does not constitute a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. Therefore, the preparation of an environmental impact statement is not required, and DOE has issued a Finding of No Significant Impact.

  17. Wind resource assessment handbook: Fundamentals for conducting a successful monitoring program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bailey, B.H.; McDonald, S.L.; Bernadett, D.W.; Markus, M.J.; Elsholz, K.V.

    1997-01-01

    This handbook presents industry-accepted guidelines for planning and conducting a wind resource measurement program to support a wind energy feasibility initiative. These guidelines, which are detailed and highly technical, emphasize the tasks of selecting, installing, and operating wind measurement equipment, as well as collecting and analyzing the associated data, once one or more measurement sites are located. The handbook's scope encompasses state-of-the-art measurement and analysis techniques at multiple heights on tall towers (e.g., 40 m) for a measurement duration of at least one year. These guidelines do not represent every possible method of conducting a quality wind measurement program, but they address the most important elements based on field-proven experience. The intended audience for this handbook is any organization or individual who desires the planning framework and detailed procedures for conducting a formally structured wind measurement program. Personnel from the management level to field technicians will find this material applicable. The organizational aspects of a measurement program, including the setting of clear program objectives and designing commensurate measurement and quality assurance plans, all of which are essential to ensuring the program's successful outcome, are emphasized. Considerable attention is also given to the details of actually conducting the measurement program in its many aspects, from selecting instrumentation that meets minimum performance standards to analyzing and reporting on the collected data. 5 figs., 15 tabs

  18. Wind energy resources assessment for Yanbo, Saudi Arabia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rehman, Shafiqur

    2004-01-01

    The paper presents long term wind data analysis in terms of annual, seasonal and diurnal variations at Yanbo, which is located on the west coast of Saudi Arabia. The wind speed and wind direction hourly data for a period of 14 years between 1970 and 1983 is used in the analysis. The analysis showed that the seasonal and diurnal pattern of wind speed matches the electricity load pattern of the location. Higher winds of the order of 5.0 m/s and more were observed during the summer months of the year and noon hours (09:00 to 16:00 h) of the day. The wind duration availability is discussed as the percent of hours during which the wind remained in certain wind speed intervals or bins. Wind energy calculations were performed using wind machines of sizes 150, 250, 600, 800, 1000, 1300, 1500, 2300 and 2500 kW rated power. Wind speed is found to remain above 3.5 m/s for 69% of the time during the year at 40, 50, 60, and 80 m above ground level. The energy production analysis showed higher production from wind machines of smaller sizes than the bigger ones for a wind farm of 30 MW installed capacity. Similarly, higher capacity factors were obtained for smaller wind machines compared to larger ones

  19. Assessment of wave energy resources in Hawaii

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stopa, Justin E.; Cheung, Kwok Fai; Chen, Yi-Leng

    2011-01-01

    Hawaii is subject to direct approach of swells from distant storms as well as seas generated by trade winds passing through the islands. The archipelago creates a localized weather system that modifies the wave energy resources from the far field. We implement a nested computational grid along the major Hawaiian Islands in the global WaveWatch3 (WW3) model and utilize the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model to provide high-resolution mesoscale wind forcing over the Hawaii region. Two hindcast case studies representative of the year-round conditions provide a quantitative assessment of the regional wind and wave patterns as well as the wave energy resources along the Hawaiian Island chain. These events of approximately two weeks each have a range of wind speeds, ground swells, and wind waves for validation of the model system with satellite and buoy measurements. The results demonstrate the wave energy potential in Hawaii waters. While the episodic swell events have enormous power reaching 60 kW/m, the wind waves, augmented by the local weather, provide a consistent energy resource of 15-25 kW/m throughout the year. (author)

  20. Wind and solar energy resources on the 'Roof of the World'

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zandler, Harald; Morche, Thomas; Samimi, Cyrus

    2015-04-01

    The Eastern Pamirs of Tajikistan, often referred to as 'Roof of the World', are an arid high mountain plateau characterized by severe energy poverty that may have great potential for renewable energy resources due to the prevailing natural conditions. The lack of energetic infrastructure makes the region a prime target for decentralized integration of wind and solar power. However, up to date no scientific attempt to assess the regional potential of these resources has been carried out. In this context, it is particularly important to evaluate if wind and solar energy are able to provide enough power to generate thermal energy, as other thermal energy carriers are scarce or unavailable and the existing alternative, local harvest of dwarf shrubs, is unsustainable due to the slow regeneration in this environment. Therefore, this study examines the feasibility of using wind and solar energy as thermal energy sources. Financial frame conditions were set on a maximum amount of five million Euros. This sum provides a realistic scenario as it is based on the current budget of the KfW development bank to finance the modernization of the local hydropower plant in the regions only city, Murghab, with about 1500 households. The basis for resource assessment is data of four climate stations, erected for this purpose in 2012, where wind speed, wind direction, global radiation and temperature are measured at a half hourly interval. These measurements confirm the expectation of a large photovoltaic potential and high panel efficiency with up to 84 percent of extraterrestrial radiation reaching the surface and only 16 hours of temperatures above 25°C were measured in two years at the village stations on average. As these observations are only point measurements, radiation data and the ASTER GDEM was used to train a GIS based solar radiation model to spatially extrapolate incoming radiation. With mean validation errors ranging from 5% in July (minimum) to 15% in December (maximum

  1. Assessment of wind resources and annual energy production of wind farms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    the last 17 years. In Denmark the plan is to increase to 50% share of total electricity consumption in 2020 compared to 26% in 2011. In EU this was 6.3% in 2011. In EU new installed wind power was 9 GW and 0.8 GW, onshore and offshore, respectively, in 2011. The total capacity in Europe is 96 GW......Wind energy provides a significant share of EU’s renewable energy source. It is anticipated in the European Commission (EC), the International Energy Agency (IEA), and the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) that wind energy expands further. Wind energy has had an annual growth of 15.6% during...

  2. High-altitude wind resources in the Middle East

    KAUST Repository

    Yip, Chak Man Andrew; Gunturu, Udaya; Stenchikov, Georgiy L.

    2017-01-01

    In the Middle East, near-surface wind resources are intermittent. However, high-altitude wind resources are abundant, persistent, and readily available and may provide alternative energy resources in this fossil-fuel-dependent region. Using wind field data from the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications Version 2 (MERRA-2), this study identifies areas favorable to the deployment of airborne wind energy (AWE) systems in the Middle East and computes the optimal heights at which such systems would best operate. AWE potential is estimated using realistic AWE system specifications and assumptions about deployment scenarios and is compared with the near-surface wind generation potential with respect to diurnal and seasonal variability. The results show the potential utility of AWE in areas in the Middle East where the energy demand is high. In particular, Oman and Saudi Arabia have a high level of the potential power generation with low annual variability.

  3. High-altitude wind resources in the Middle East

    KAUST Repository

    Yip, Chak Man Andrew

    2017-08-23

    In the Middle East, near-surface wind resources are intermittent. However, high-altitude wind resources are abundant, persistent, and readily available and may provide alternative energy resources in this fossil-fuel-dependent region. Using wind field data from the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications Version 2 (MERRA-2), this study identifies areas favorable to the deployment of airborne wind energy (AWE) systems in the Middle East and computes the optimal heights at which such systems would best operate. AWE potential is estimated using realistic AWE system specifications and assumptions about deployment scenarios and is compared with the near-surface wind generation potential with respect to diurnal and seasonal variability. The results show the potential utility of AWE in areas in the Middle East where the energy demand is high. In particular, Oman and Saudi Arabia have a high level of the potential power generation with low annual variability.

  4. Characterization of the Wind Power Resource in Europe and its Intermittency

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cosseron, Alexandra; Gunturu, Bhaskar; Schlosser, Adam

    2013-04-01

    Thanks to incentives from the European Union and recent events, the political situation in Europe has never been so favorable towards renewables. As one of the most mature technologies among them, wind power has been chosen to be assessed over Europe, with a special care given to intermittency and variability quantifications. The goal of this study is to construct and analyze the availability and variability of the wind potential across Europe using the methodology developed in Gunturu and Schlosser (2011). The Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) boundary flux data was used to construct wind profiles at 50, 80, 100 and 120 meters height over a domain spreading from Iceland to the western end of Ukraine. Comparisons and contrasts with previous works have asserted the reliability of the data and computations used in the analysis. It must be emphasized though that the data set used in this study has a thirty-year length, a time resolution of an hour and is a reconstruction of the atmospheric state by assimilating observational data from different platforms into a global model. Various metrics, such as coefficients of variation, inter-quartile ranges, capacity factors and wind episode lengths, have been introduced to assess magnitude and variability of wind power. Then, unconventional variables have been designed to further study the availability and reliability of this resource. Thus, to study the correlation between wind episodes across Europe, parameters called antiCoincidence and antiNullCoincidence have been built. Pragmatically, the seven closest grid points in each direction at every grid point have been studied to assess whether they had wind when the considered point had or had not. The analysis of these variables leads to the conclusion that wind-proponents' favorite statement, "wind always blows somewhere", may not be so true. All of these metrics have finally allowed a better understanding of wind power features over

  5. Comparison of SAR Wind Speed Retrieval Algorithms for Evaluating Offshore Wind Energy Resources

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kozai, K.; Ohsawa, T.; Takeyama, Y.

    2010-01-01

    Envisat/ASAR-derived offshore wind speeds and energy densities based on 4 different SAR wind speed retrieval algorithms (CMOD4, CMOD-IFR2, CMOD5, CMOD5.N) are compared with observed wind speeds and energy densities for evaluating offshore wind energy resources. CMOD4 ignores effects of atmospheri...

  6. Quadrennial Technology Review 2015: Technology Assessments--Wind Power

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    none,

    2015-10-07

    Wind power has become a mainstream power source in the U.S. electricity portfolio, supplying 4.9% of the nation’s electricity demand in 2014. With more than 65 GW installed across 39 states at the end of 2014, utility-scale wind power is a cost-effective source of low-emissions power generation throughout much of the nation. The United States has significant sustainable land-based and offshore wind resource potential, greater than 10 times current total U.S. electricity consumption. A technical wind resource assessment conducted by the Department of Energy (DOE) in 2009 estimated that the land-based wind energy potential for the contiguous United States is equivalent to 10,500 GW capacity at 80 meters (m) hub and 12,000 GW capacity at 100 meters (m) hub heights, assuming a capacity factor of at least 30%. A subsequent 2010 DOE report estimated the technical offshore wind energy potential to be 4,150 GW. The estimate was calculated from the total offshore area within 50 nautical miles of shore in areas where average annual wind speeds are at least 7 m per second at a hub height of 90 m.

  7. Wind resource characterization in the Arabian Peninsula

    KAUST Repository

    Yip, Chak Man Andrew; Gunturu, Udaya; Stenchikov, Georgiy L.

    2015-01-01

    Wind energy is expected to contribute to alleviating the rise in energy demand in the Middle East that is driven by population growth and industrial development. However, variability and intermittency in the wind resource present significant

  8. Environmental Impact Assessment of Wind Generators in the Czech Republic

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vladimír Lapčík

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available The article summarizes author´s experience with environmental impact assessment in branch of wind generators. The introductorypart of paper describes legislative obligations of the Czech Republic in frame of fulfilling the European Union´s limits in branch ofrenewable energy resources utilization. Next part of paper deals with analysis of impacts of wind generators on the environment.The final part of paper deals with experience with implementation of the environmental impact assessment process (pursuant to the ActNo. 100/2001 Coll. in the field of wind power in the Czech Republic.

  9. Danish-Czech wind resource know-how transfer project. Interim report 2002

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rathmann, O.; Noergaerd, P.; Frandsen, S.

    2003-12-01

    The progress of the Danish-Czech Wind Resource Know-how Transfer Project is reported. The know-how transfer component of the project has consisted in performing a wind resource training workshop for about 13 individuals from the Czech Republic, ranging from scientists to wind farm project developers, and in donating modern software for evaluating wind resources. The project has also included a review of a Czech overview-study of wind speeds inside the country as well as a study of the electricity tariffs and their impact on wind energy utilization in the Czech Republic. A problematic existing Czech wind farm project, locked up in a no-production situation, was also addressed. However, this situation turned out to be related to problems with economy and owner-ship to a higher degree than to low wind resources and technical problems, and it was not possible for the project to point out a way out of this situation. (au)

  10. Danish-Czech wind resource know-how transfer project. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rathmann, O.; Noergaerd, P.; Frandsen, S.

    2004-06-01

    The course of the Danish-Czech Wind Resource Know-how Transfer Project is reported. The know-how transfer component of the project has consisted in performing a wind resource training work-shop for about 13 individuals from the Czech Republic, ranging from scientists to wind farm project developers, and in donating modern software for evaluating wind resources. The project has also included a review of a Czech overview-study of wind speeds inside the country as well as an investigation of the electricity tariffs and their impact on wind energy utilization in the Czech Republic. A problematic existing Czech wind farm project, locked up in a no-production situation, was also addressed. Not until the purchase by a new owner-company, which initiated the necessary repair and maintenance, the wind farm resumed normal operation. As its last task, the present project assisted in consolidating future operation through a helping package consisting of a training course for the wind farm technicians and in a package of relevant spare parts. (au)

  11. Assessing risk to birds from industrial wind energy development via paired resource selection models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Tricia A; Brooks, Robert P; Lanzone, Michael; Brandes, David; Cooper, Jeff; O'Malley, Kieran; Maisonneuve, Charles; Tremblay, Junior; Duerr, Adam; Katzner, Todd

    2014-06-01

    When wildlife habitat overlaps with industrial development animals may be harmed. Because wildlife and people select resources to maximize biological fitness and economic return, respectively, we estimated risk, the probability of eagles encountering and being affected by turbines, by overlaying models of resource selection for each entity. This conceptual framework can be applied across multiple spatial scales to understand and mitigate impacts of industry on wildlife. We estimated risk to Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) from wind energy development in 3 topographically distinct regions of the central Appalachian Mountains of Pennsylvania (United States) based on models of resource selection of wind facilities (n = 43) and of northbound migrating eagles (n = 30). Risk to eagles from wind energy was greatest in the Ridge and Valley region; all 24 eagles that passed through that region used the highest risk landscapes at least once during low altitude flight. In contrast, only half of the birds that entered the Allegheny Plateau region used highest risk landscapes and none did in the Allegheny Mountains. Likewise, in the Allegheny Mountains, the majority of wind turbines (56%) were situated in poor eagle habitat; thus, risk to eagles is lower there than in the Ridge and Valley, where only 1% of turbines are in poor eagle habitat. Risk within individual facilities was extremely variable; on average, facilities had 11% (SD 23; range = 0-100%) of turbines in highest risk landscapes and 26% (SD 30; range = 0-85%) of turbines in the lowest risk landscapes. Our results provide a mechanism for relocating high-risk turbines, and they show the feasibility of this novel and highly adaptable framework for managing risk of harm to wildlife from industrial development. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

  12. Wind Energy Based Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Sitting. A GIS/Wind Resource Assessment Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    George Xydis

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The transportation sector is severely correlated with major problems in environment, citizens’ health, climate and economy. Issues such as traffic, fuel cost and parking space have make life more difficult, especially in the dense urban environment. Thus, there is a great need for the development of the electric vehicle (EV sector. The number of cars in cities has increased so much that the current transportation system (roads, parking places, traffic lights, etc. cannot accommodate them properly. The increasing number of vehicles does not affect only humans but also the environment, through air and noise pollution. According to EPA, the 39.2% of total gas emissions in 2007 was caused by transportation activities. Studies have shown that the pollutants are not only gathered in the major roads and/or highways but can travel depending on the meteorological conditions leading to generic pollution. The promotion of EVs and the charging stations are both equally required to be further developed in order EVs to move out of the cities and finally confront the range problem. In this work, a wind resource and a GIS analysis optimizes in a wider area the sitting of wind based charging stations and proposes an optimizing methodology.

  13. Wind potential assessment of Quebec Province

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ilinca, A.; Chaumel, J.-L.; Retiveau, J.-L.

    2003-01-01

    The paper presents the development of a comprehensive wind atlas of the Province of Quebec. This study differs from previous studies by 1) use of a standard classification index to categorize the wind resource, 2) extensive review of surface and upper air data available for the Province to define the wind resource, and 3) integration of available wind data with the topography of the Province. The wind resource in the Province of Quebec is classified using the scheme proposed by Battelle-Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL). The Battelle-PNL classification is a numerical one which includes rankings from Wind Power Class 1 (lowest) to Wind Power Class 7 (highest). Associated with each numerical classification is a range of wind power and associated mean wind speed at 10 m and 50 m above ground level. For this study, a classification for 30 m above ground level was interpolated and used. A significant amount of wind data was gathered for the Province. These data were obtained from Atmospheric Environment Service (AES), Canada, from wind project developers, and from climatological summaries of surface and upper air data. A total of 35 primary data sites were selected in the Province. Although a number of wind data sites in the Province were identified and used in the analysis, large areas of the Province lacked any specific wind information. The Province was divided into grid blocks having dimensions of 1/4 o latitude by 1/3 o longitude. Each grid block is assigned a numerical Wind Power Class value ranging from 1 to 7. This value is based on the integration of the available wind data and the topography within the square. The majority of the Province was classified as 1 or 2. Coastal locations and topographic features in the interior of the Province typically have Wind Power Class 3 or higher. (author)

  14. Southward shift of the global wind energy resource under high carbon dioxide emissions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karnauskas, Kristopher B.; Lundquist, Julie K.; Zhang, Lei

    2018-01-01

    The use of wind energy resource is an integral part of many nations' strategies towards realizing the carbon emissions reduction targets set forth in the Paris Agreement, and global installed wind power cumulative capacity has grown on average by 22% per year since 2006. However, assessments of wind energy resource are usually based on today's climate, rather than taking into account that anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions continue to modify the global atmospheric circulation. Here, we apply an industry wind turbine power curve to simulations of high and low future emissions scenarios in an ensemble of ten fully coupled global climate models to investigate large-scale changes in wind power across the globe. Our calculations reveal decreases in wind power across the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes and increases across the tropics and Southern Hemisphere, with substantial regional variations. The changes across the northern mid-latitudes are robust responses over time in both emissions scenarios, whereas the Southern Hemisphere changes appear critically sensitive to each individual emissions scenario. In addition, we find that established features of climate change can explain these patterns: polar amplification is implicated in the northern mid-latitude decrease in wind power, and enhanced land-sea thermal gradients account for the tropical and southern subtropical increases.

  15. Could Crop Height Affect the Wind Resource at Agriculturally Productive Wind Farm Sites?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanderwende, Brian; Lundquist, Julie K.

    2016-03-01

    The collocation of cropland and wind turbines in the US Midwest region introduces complex meteorological interactions that could influence both agriculture and wind-power production. Crop management practices may affect the wind resource through alterations of land-surface properties. We use the weather research and forecasting (WRF) model to estimate the impact of crop height variations on the wind resource in the presence of a large turbine array. A hypothetical wind farm consisting of 121 1.8-MW turbines is represented using the WRF model wind-farm parametrization. We represent the impact of selecting soybeans rather than maize by altering the aerodynamic roughness length in a region approximately 65 times larger than that occupied by the turbine array. Roughness lengths of 0.1 and 0.25 m represent the mature soy crop and a mature maize crop, respectively. In all but the most stable atmospheric conditions, statistically significant hub-height wind-speed increases and rotor-layer wind-shear reductions result from switching from maize to soybeans. Based on simulations for the entire month of August 2013, wind-farm energy output increases by 14 %, which would yield a significant monetary gain. Further investigation is required to determine the optimal size, shape, and crop height of the roughness modification to maximize the economic benefit and minimize the cost of such crop-management practices. These considerations must be balanced by other influences on crop choice such as soil requirements and commodity prices.

  16. Reply to the Discussion of Space-Time Modelling with Long-Memory Dependence: Assessing Ireland’s Wind Resource

    Science.gov (United States)

    1988-10-01

    meteorologists’ rule-of-thumb that climatic drift manifests itself in periods greater than 30 years. For a fractionally-differenced model with our...estimates in a univariate ARIMA (p, d, q) with I d I< 0.5 has been derived by Li and McLrjd (1986). The model used by I-Iaslett an Raftery can be viewed as...Reply to the Discussion of "Space-time Modelling with Long-mnmory cDependence: Assessing Ireland’s Wind Resource" cJohn Haslett Department of

  17. Satellite winds as a tool for offshore wind resource assessment: The Great Lakes Wind Atlas

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Doubrawa, Paula; Barthelmie, Rebecca Jane; Pryor, Sara C.

    2015-01-01

    and combine all scenes into one wind speed map. QuikSCAT winds undergo a seasonal correction due to lack of data during the cold season that is based on its ratio relative to buoy time series. All processing steps reduce the biases of the individual maps relative to the buoy observed wind climates. The remote...

  18. Wind Power Meteorology

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lundtang Petersen, Erik; Mortensen, Niels Gylling; Landberg, Lars

    Wind power meteorology has evolved as an applied science, firmly founded on boundary-layer meteorology, but with strong links to climatology and geography. It concerns itself with three main areas: siting of wind turbines, regional wind resource assessment, and short-term prediction of the wind...... resource. The history, status and perspectives of wind power meteorology are presented, with emphasis on physical considerations and on its practical application. Following a global view of the wind resource, the elements of boundary layer meteorology which are most important for wind energy are reviewed......: wind profiles and shear, turbulence and gust, and extreme winds. The data used in wind power meteorology stem mainly from three sources: onsite wind measurements, the synoptic networks, and the re-analysis projects. Wind climate analysis, wind resource estimation and siting further require a detailed...

  19. Climate change impacts on wind energy resources in northern Europe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pryor, S.C.; Barthelmie, R.J.; Kjellstroem, E.

    2005-01-01

    Energy is a fundamental human need. Heat, light and transport for individuals combined with the needs of industry have created a demand for energy which for the last 100-200 years has been met largely through consumption of fossil fuels leading to altered atmospheric composition and modification of the global climate. These effects will be realised on local scales affecting not just temperature and precipitation but also wind, radiation and other parameters. Annual mean wind speeds and wind energy density over northern Europe were significantly higher at the end of twentieth century than during the middle portion of that century, with the majority of the change being focused on the winter season. To address questions regarding possible future wind climates we employ dynamical and empirical downscaling techniques that seek to take coarse resolution output from General Circulation Models (GCM), run to provide scenarios of future climate, and develop higher resolution regional wind climates. Analyses of the wind climate during the historical record indicate that both the dynamical approach and the empirical approach are capable of generating accurate, robust and quantitative assessments of the wind climate and energy density in northern Europe, and hence that they may be of great utility to those seeking financing for, or risk management of, wind farms in the face of climate uncertainty. The synthesis of application of these downscaling tools to climate projections for northern Europe is that there is no evidence of major changes in the wind energy resource. However, more research is required to quantify the uncertainties in developing these projections and to reduce those uncertainties. Further work should also be conducted to assess the validity of these downscaling approaches in other geographical locations. (BA)

  20. Overview of the Quality and Completeness of Resource Assessment Data for the APEC Region

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Renne, D. S.; Pilasky, S.

    1998-02-01

    The availability of information and data on the renewable energy resources (solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, and hydro) for renewable energy technologies is a critical element in the successful implementation of these technologies. This paper presents a comprehensive summary of published information on these resources for each of 1 8 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies. In the introductory sections, a discussion of the quality and completeness of this information is presented, along with recommendations on steps that need to be taken to facilitate the further development and deployment of renewable energy technologies throughout the APEC region. These sections are then followed by economy-specific reviews, and a complete bibliography and summary description for each citation. The major results of this survey are that a basis for understanding renewable energy resources is currently available for essentially all the economies, although there is a significant need to apply improved and updated resource assessment techniques in most. For example, most wind resource assessments rely on data collected at national weather stations, which often results in underestimates of the true potential wind resource within an economy. As a second example, solar resource assessments in most economies rely on an analysis of very simple sunshine record data, which results in large uncertainties in accurately quantifying the resource. National surveys of biomass, geothermal, and hydro resources are often lacking; in most cases, resources for these technologies were discussed for site-specific studies only. Thus, the major recommendations in this paper are to: ( 1 ) upgrade current or install new wind and solar measurement systems at key 'benchmark' locations to provide accurate, representative information on these resources; (2) apply advanced wind and solar resource assessment tools that rely on data quality assessment procedures, the use of satellite data

  1. Wind resource modelling for micro-siting - Validation at a 60-MW wind farm site

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hansen, J C; Gylling Mortensen, N [Risoe National Lab., Wind Energy and Atmospheric Physics Dept., Roskilde (Denmark); Said, U S [New and Renewable Energy Authority, Cairo (Egypt)

    1999-03-01

    This paper investigates and validates the applicability of the WAsP-model for layout optimization and micro-siting of wind turbines at a given site for a 60-MW wind farm at Zafarana at the Gulf of Suez in Egypt. Previous investigations show large gradients in the wind climate within the area. For the design and optimization of the wind farm it was found necessary to verify the WAsP extrapolation of wind atlas results from 2 existing meteorological masts located 5 and 10 km, respectively, from the wind farm site. On-site measurements at the 3.5 x 3.5 km{sup 2} wind farm site in combination with 7 years of near-site wind atlas measurements offer significant amounts of data for verification of wind conditions for micro-siting. Wind speeds, wind directions, turbulence intensities and guests in 47.5 m a.g.l. have been measured at 9 locations across the site. Additionally, one of the site masts is equipped as a reference mast, measuring both vertical profiles of wind speed and temperature as well as air pressure and temperature. The exercise is further facilitated by the fact that winds are highly uni-directional; the north direction accounting for 80-90% of the wind resource. The paper presents comparisons of 5 months of on-site measurements and modeled predictions from 2 existing meteorological masts located at distances of 5 and 10 km, respectively, from the wind farm site. Predictions based on terrain descriptions of the Wind Atlas for the Gulf of Suez 1991-95 showed over-predictions of wind speeds of 4-10%. With calibrated terrain descriptions, made based on measured data and a re-visit to critical parts of the terrain, the average prediction error of wind speeds was reduced to about 1%. These deviations are smaller than generally expected for such wind resource modeling, clearly documenting the validity of using WAsP modeling for micro-siting and layout optimization of the wind farm. (au)

  2. Wind deployment in the United States: states, resources, policy, and discourse.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, Elizabeth J; Stephens, Jennie C

    2009-12-15

    A transformation in the way the United States produces and uses energy is needed to achieve greenhouse gas reduction targets for climate change mitigation. Wind power is an important low-carbon technology and the most rapidly growing renewable energy technology in the U.S. Despite recent advances in wind deployment, significant state-by-state variation in wind power distribution cannot be explained solely by wind resource patterns nor by state policy. Other factors embedded within the state-level socio-political context also contribute to wind deployment patterns. We explore this socio-political context in four U.S. states by integrating multiple research methods. Through comparative state-level analysis of the energy system, energy policy, and public discourse as represented in the media, we examine variation in the context for wind deployment in Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, and Texas. Our results demonstrate that these states have different patterns of wind deployment, are engaged in different debates about wind power, and appear to frame the risks and benefits of wind power in different ways. This comparative assessment highlights the complex variation of the state-level socio-political context and contributes depth to our understanding of energy technology deployment processes, decision-making, and outcomes.

  3. Wind Tunnel Management and Resource Optimization: A Systems Modeling Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacobs, Derya, A.; Aasen, Curtis A.

    2000-01-01

    Time, money, and, personnel are becoming increasingly scarce resources within government agencies due to a reduction in funding and the desire to demonstrate responsible economic efficiency. The ability of an organization to plan and schedule resources effectively can provide the necessary leverage to improve productivity, provide continuous support to all projects, and insure flexibility in a rapidly changing environment. Without adequate internal controls the organization is forced to rely on external support, waste precious resources, and risk an inefficient response to change. Management systems must be developed and applied that strive to maximize the utility of existing resources in order to achieve the goal of "faster, cheaper, better". An area of concern within NASA Langley Research Center was the scheduling, planning, and resource management of the Wind Tunnel Enterprise operations. Nine wind tunnels make up the Enterprise. Prior to this research, these wind tunnel groups did not employ a rigorous or standardized management planning system. In addition, each wind tunnel unit operated from a position of autonomy, with little coordination of clients, resources, or project control. For operating and planning purposes, each wind tunnel operating unit must balance inputs from a variety of sources. Although each unit is managed by individual Facility Operations groups, other stakeholders influence wind tunnel operations. These groups include, for example, the various researchers and clients who use the facility, the Facility System Engineering Division (FSED) tasked with wind tunnel repair and upgrade, the Langley Research Center (LaRC) Fabrication (FAB) group which fabricates repair parts and provides test model upkeep, the NASA and LARC Strategic Plans, and unscheduled use of the facilities by important clients. Expanding these influences horizontally through nine wind tunnel operations and vertically along the NASA management structure greatly increases the

  4. Assessing Potential Wind Energy Resources in Saudi Arabia with a Skew-t Distribution

    KAUST Repository

    Tagle, Felipe

    2017-03-13

    Facing increasing domestic energy consumption from population growth and industrialization, Saudi Arabia is aiming to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and to broaden its energy mix by expanding investment in renewable energy sources, including wind energy. A preliminary task in the development of wind energy infrastructure is the assessment of wind energy potential, a key aspect of which is the characterization of its spatio-temporal behavior. In this study we examine the impact of internal climate variability on seasonal wind power density fluctuations using 30 simulations from the Large Ensemble Project (LENS) developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Furthermore, a spatio-temporal model for daily wind speed is proposed with neighbor-based cross-temporal dependence, and a multivariate skew-t distribution to capture the spatial patterns of higher order moments. The model can be used to generate synthetic time series over the entire spatial domain that adequately reproduces the internal variability of the LENS dataset.

  5. Assessing Potential Wind Energy Resources in Saudi Arabia with a Skew-t Distribution

    KAUST Repository

    Tagle, Felipe; Castruccio, Stefano; Crippa, Paola; Genton, Marc G.

    2017-01-01

    Facing increasing domestic energy consumption from population growth and industrialization, Saudi Arabia is aiming to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and to broaden its energy mix by expanding investment in renewable energy sources, including wind energy. A preliminary task in the development of wind energy infrastructure is the assessment of wind energy potential, a key aspect of which is the characterization of its spatio-temporal behavior. In this study we examine the impact of internal climate variability on seasonal wind power density fluctuations using 30 simulations from the Large Ensemble Project (LENS) developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Furthermore, a spatio-temporal model for daily wind speed is proposed with neighbor-based cross-temporal dependence, and a multivariate skew-t distribution to capture the spatial patterns of higher order moments. The model can be used to generate synthetic time series over the entire spatial domain that adequately reproduces the internal variability of the LENS dataset.

  6. Wind generation systems for remote communities: market assessment and guidelines for wind turbines selection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brothers, C.

    1993-06-01

    Wind technology and its market potential in remote communities of the Canadian North were discussed. These communities, unserviced by the main utility electricity grid, generate their own electricity using high quality, expensive diesel fuel to power diesel driven generators. The logistics of delivering fuel to these remote communities is an expensive operation. Wind resource in many of these communities is substantial and wind energy is seen as a prime candidate for supplying electricity to many potential sites in the Arctic and also areas in Quebec and Newfoundland. However, the severe service (i.e., cold climate, remote locations with limited facilities) requires special considerations to ensure that equipment installed performs reliably. This report described some demonstration projects in northern Canada over the last ten years, where an understanding of the special needs of wind turbines in remote areas has been developed. A guide which assessed the suitability of wind turbines for Arctic applications was included to assist organisations in preparing requirements to be used in acquiring wind turbines for use in cold regions. Refs., tabs., figs

  7. Remotely sensed data fusion for offshore wind energy resource mapping; Fusion de donnees satellitaires pour la cartographie du potentiel eolien offshore

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ben Ticha, M.B

    2007-11-15

    Wind energy is a component of an energy policy contributing to a sustainable development. Last years, offshore wind parks have been installed offshore. These parks benefit from higher wind speeds and lower turbulence than onshore. To sit a wind park, it is necessary to have a mapping of wind resource. These maps are needed at high spatial resolution to show wind energy resource variations at the scale of a wind park. Wind resource mapping is achieved through the description of the spatial variations of statistical parameters characterizing wind climatology. For a precise estimation of these statistical parameters, high temporal resolution wind speed and direction measurements are needed. However, presently, there is no data source allying high spatial resolution and high temporal resolution. We propose a data fusion method taking advantage of the high spatial resolution of some remote sensing instruments (synthetic aperture radars) and the high temporal resolution of other remote sensing instruments (scatterometers). The data fusion method is applied to a case study and the results quality is assessed. The results show the pertinence of data fusion for the mapping of wind energy resource offshore. (author)

  8. Avian Monitoring and Risk Assessment at the Tehachapi Pass Wind Resource Area; Period of Performance: October 2, 1996--May 27, 1998

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Anderson, R.; Neumann, N.; Tom, J.; Erickson, W. P.; Strickland, M. D.; Bourassa, M.; Bay, K. J.; Sernka, K. J.

    2004-09-01

    Observations of dead raptors at the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area triggered concerns on the parts of regulatory agencies, environmental/conservation groups, wildlife resource agencies, and wind and electric utility industries about possible impacts to birds from wind energy development. Bird fatality rates observed at most wind projects are not currently considered significant to individual bird species populations. Although many bird species have observed fatalities, raptors have received the most attention. The primary objective of this study was to estimate and compare bird utilization, fatality rates, and collision risk indices among factors such as bird taxonomic groups, turbine types, and turbine locations within the operating wind plant in the Tehachapi Pass WRA, in south-central California between October 1996 and May 1998.

  9. Analysis of the solar/wind resources in Southern Spain for optimal sizing of hybrid solar-wind power generation systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quesada-Ruiz, S.; Pozo-Vazquez, D.; Santos-Alamillos, F. J.; Lara-Fanego, V.; Ruiz-Arias, J. A.; Tovar-Pescador, J.

    2010-09-01

    A drawback common to the solar and wind energy systems is their unpredictable nature and dependence on weather and climate on a wide range of time scales. In addition, the variation of the energy output may not match with the time distribution of the load demand. This can partially be solved by the use of batteries for energy storage in stand-alone systems. The problem caused by the variable nature of the solar and wind resources can be partially overcome by the use of energy systems that uses both renewable resources in a combined manner, that is, hybrid wind-solar systems. Since both resources can show complementary characteristics in certain location, the independent use of solar or wind systems results in considerable over sizing of the batteries system compared to the use of hybrid solar-wind systems. Nevertheless, to the day, there is no single recognized method for properly sizing these hybrid wind-solar systems. In this work, we present a method for sizing wind-solar hybrid systems in southern Spain. The method is based on the analysis of the wind and solar resources on daily scale, particularly, its temporal complementary characteristics. The method aims to minimize the size of the energy storage systems, trying to provide the most reliable supply.

  10. Prediction of Wind Energy Resources (PoWER) Users Guide

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-01-01

    ARL-TR-7573● JAN 2016 US Army Research Laboratory Prediction of Wind Energy Resources (PoWER) User’s Guide by David P Sauter...manufacturer’s or trade names does not constitute an official endorsement or approval of the use thereof. Destroy this report when it is no longer needed. Do...not return it to the originator. ARL-TR-7573 ● JAN 2016 US Army Research Laboratory Prediction of Wind Energy Resources (PoWER

  11. Preliminary Assessment of Potential Avian Interactions at Four Proposed Wind Energy Facilities on Vandenberg Air Force Base, California

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2004-08-01

    The United States Air Force (USAF) is investigating whether to install wind turbines to provide a supplemental source of electricity at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) near Lompoc, California. As part of that investigation, VAFB sought assistance from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to provide a preliminary characterization of the potential risk to wildlife resources (mainly birds and bats) from wind turbine installations. With wind power development expanding throughout North America and Europe, concerns have surfaced over the number of bird fatalities associated with wind turbines. Guidelines developed for the wind industry by the National Wind Coordinating Committee (NWCC) recommend assessing potential impacts to birds, bats, and other potentially sensitive resources before construction. The primary purpose of an assessment is to identify potential conflicts with sensitive resources, to assist developers with identifying their permitting needs, and to develop strategies to avoid impacts or to mitigate their effects. This report provides a preliminary (Phase I) biological assessment of potential impacts to birds and bats that might result from construction and operation of the proposed wind energy facilities on VAFB.

  12. The value of co-locating energy storage with wind resources

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fox, C. [Victoria Univ., BC (Canada). Inst. for Integrated Energy Systems

    2010-07-01

    This PowerPoint presentation discussed the value of wind energy storage systems. The systems can be used to downsize transmission requirements and to minimize reliability and forecast uncertainty. Revenue factors in relation to wind power energy storage are determined by the amount of wind power produced each hour with the wind farm capacity and hourly electricity price. Case studies of a wind farm in Ontario over a period of 20 years were used to determine capacity and revenue factors as well as gross revenues. The maximum revenue factor was determined by multiplying the greatest wind energy output by the highest electricity prices. A hybrid wind farm energy storage system was designed to determine energy storage discharges and charges to and from the grid at pool prices. The method allowed for time-shifts in wind generation resources and downsized transmission requirements for remote resources. The mixed integer linear program model co-optimized revenues from the wind farm and the energy storage facility. Combined output was constrained to the transmission capacity. Transmission losses were neglected, and capital costs were considered. Future studies are needed to determine levelized electricity costs under different load growth scenarios. tabs., figs.

  13. Computer modelling of the UK wind energy resource: UK wind speed data package and user manual

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Burch, S F; Ravenscroft, F

    1993-12-31

    A software package has been developed for IBM-PC or true compatibles. It is designed to provide easy access to the results of a programme of work to estimate the UK wind energy resource. Mean wind speed maps and quantitative resource estimates were obtained using the NOABL mesoscale (1 km resolution) numerical model for the prediction of wind flow over complex terrain. NOABL was used in conjunction with digitised terrain data and wind data from surface meteorological stations for a ten year period (1975-1984) to provide digital UK maps of mean wind speed at 10m, 25m and 45m above ground level. Also included in the derivation of these maps was the use of the Engineering Science Data Unit (ESDU) method to model the effect on wind speed of the abrupt change in surface roughness that occurs at the coast. With the wind speed software package, the user is able to obtain a display of the modelled wind speed at 10m, 25m and 45m above ground level for any location in the UK. The required co-ordinates are simply supplied by the user, and the package displays the selected wind speed. This user manual summarises the methodology used in the generation of these UK maps and shows computer generated plots of the 25m wind speeds in 200 x 200 km regions covering the whole UK. The uncertainties inherent in the derivation of these maps are also described, and notes given on their practical usage. The present study indicated that 23% of the UK land area had speeds over 6 m/s, with many hill sites having 10m speeds over 10 m/s. It is concluded that these `first order` resource estimates represent a substantial improvement over the presently available `zero order` estimates. (18 figures, 3 tables, 6 references). (author)

  14. A CASE STUDY OF CHINA ́S WIND POWER RESOURCES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xue Yanping

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available At present, China is the largest energy producer and the second largest energy consumer in the world. With the increasing pressure to cut GHS emissions and to improve energy efficiency, China is now changing its traditional energy mix, mainly through consuming more renewable energy instead of fossil energy. This change has resulted in a policy adjustment which in turn boosts the utilization of the wind power resources. However, the development of the wind power resources in China is confronted with some significant challenges, such as greater installed electricity capacity than the electricity generation, greater electricity generation than the electricity transmission capacity and greater inland wind power generation than the offshore wind power generation. Therefore, the further development of China’s wind power electricity in the coming years depends largely on the ways these challenges will be addressed.

  15. Wind resources at turbine height from Envisat and Sentinel-1 SAR

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Badger, Merete; Hasager, Charlotte Bay; Pena Diaz, Alfredo

    for the standard output level of 10 m above the sea surface. This presentation demonstrates the effects of two recent improvements related to satellite-based wind resource mapping: 1) The number of satellite samples has increased dramatically since the launch of Sentinel-1A/B 2) A new method looks promising...... National Ice Center. Once the instantaneous wind maps are stored in our database, they can be organized as time series in order to calculate wind resources for any point location or area. Since the time series comprises data from both Envisat and Sentinel-1, a check of the data calibration against one....... To extrapolate the 10-m wind resource maps from SAR to higher levels within the atmospheric boundary layer, we estimate a wind profile for each grid cell in the maps. Simulations from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model are used to correct this profile for long-term atmospheric stability effects...

  16. Temporal and spatial complementarity of wind and solar resources in Lower Silesia (Poland)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jurasz, Jakub; Wdowikowski, Marcin; Kaźmierczak, Bartosz; Dąbek, Paweł

    2017-11-01

    This paper investigates the concept of temporal and spatial complementarity of wind and solar resources in Lower Silesia (south-wester Poland). For the purpose of our research we have used hourly load and energy yield from photovoltaics and wind turbines covering period 2010-2014. In order to assess the spatial complementarity we have divided the considered voivodeship into 74 squared regions with maximal area of 400 km2. The obtained results indicate an existence of temporal complementarity on a monthly time scale and a positive correlation between load and wind generation patterns (also on a monthly time scale). The temporal complementarity for hourly time series in relatively low but has potential to smooth the energy generation curves.

  17. Opportunities for wind resources in the future competitive California power market

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sezgen, O.; Marnay, C.; Bretz, S.; Markel, R.; Wiser, R.

    1998-01-01

    The goal of this work is to evaluate the profitability of wind development in the future competitive California power market. The viability of possible wind sites is assessed using a geographic information system (GIS) to determine the cost of development and Elfin, an electric utility production costing and capacity expansion model, to estimate the possible revenues and profits of wind farms at the sites. This approach improves on a simple profitability calculation by using site specific development cost calculations and by taking the effect of time varying market prices on revenues into account. The first component of the work is the characterization of wind resources suitable for use in production costing and capacity expansion models such as Elfin that are capable of simulating competitive electricity markets. An improved representation of California wind resources is built, using information collected by the California Energy Commission in previous site evaluations, and by using a GIS approach to estimating development costs at 36 specific sites. These sites, which have been identified as favorable for wind development, are placed on Digital Elevation Models and development costs are calculated based on distances to roads and transmission lines. GIS is also used to develop the potential capacity at each site by making use of the physical characteristics of the terrain, such as ridge lengths. In the second part of the effort, using a previously developed algorithm for simulating competitive entry to the California electricity market, Elfin is used to gauge the viability of wind farms at the 36 sites. The results of this exercise are forecasts of profitable development levels at each site and the effects of these developments on the electricity system as a whole. Results suggest that by the year 2030, about 7.5 GW of potential wind capacity can be profitably developed assuming rising natural gas prices. This example demonstrates that an analysis based on a

  18. Potential for Development of Solar and Wind Resource in Bhutan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gilman, P.; Cowlin, S.; Heimiller, D.

    2009-09-01

    With support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) produced maps and data of the wind and solar resources in Bhutan. The solar resource data show that Bhutan has an adequate resource for flat-plate collectors, with annual average values of global horizontal solar radiation ranging from 4.0 to 5.5 kWh/m2-day (4.0 to 5.5 peak sun hours per day). The information provided in this report may be of use to energy planners in Bhutan involved in developing energy policy or planning wind and solar projects, and to energy analysts around the world interested in gaining an understanding of Bhutan's wind and solar energy potential.

  19. Kaneohe, Hawaii Wind Resource Assessment Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Robichaud, R.; Green, J.; Meadows, B.

    2011-11-01

    The Department of Energy (DOE) has an interagency agreement to assist the Department of Defense (DOD) in evaluating the potential to use wind energy for power at residential properties at DOD bases in Hawaii. DOE assigned the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to facilitate this process by installing a 50-meter (m) meteorological (Met) tower on residential property associated with the Marine Corps Base Housing (MCBH) Kaneohe Bay in Hawaii.

  20. A detailed and verified wind resource atlas for Denmark

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mortensen, N G; Landberg, L; Rathmann, O; Nielsen, M N [Risoe National Lab., Roskilde (Denmark); Nielsen, P [Energy and Environmental Data, Aalberg (Denmark)

    1999-03-01

    A detailed and reliable wind resource atlas covering the entire land area of Denmark has been established. Key words of the methodology are wind atlas analysis, interpolation of wind atlas data sets, automated generation of digital terrain descriptions and modelling of local wind climates. The atlas contains wind speed and direction distributions, as well as mean energy densities of the wind, for 12 sectors and four heights above ground level: 25, 45, 70 and 100 m. The spatial resolution is 200 meters in the horizontal. The atlas has been verified by comparison with actual wind turbine power productions from over 1200 turbines. More than 80% of these turbines were predicted to within 10%. The atlas will become available on CD-ROM and on the Internet. (au)

  1. Global sensitivity analysis in wind energy assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsvetkova, O.; Ouarda, T. B.

    2012-12-01

    research show that the brute force method is best for wind assessment purpose, SBSS outperforms other sampling strategies in the majority of cases. The results indicate that the Weibull scale parameter, turbine lifetime and Weibull shape parameter are the three most influential variables in the case study setting. The following conclusions can be drawn from these results: 1) SBSS should be recommended for use in Monte Carlo experiments, 2) The brute force method should be recommended for conducting sensitivity analysis in wind resource assessment, and 3) Little variation in the Weibull scale causes significant variation in energy production. The presence of the two distribution parameters in the top three influential variables (the Weibull shape and scale) emphasizes the importance of accuracy of (a) choosing the distribution to model wind regime at a site and (b) estimating probability distribution parameters. This can be labeled as the most important conclusion of this research because it opens a field for further research, which the authors see could change the wind energy field tremendously.

  2. Assessment of wind power generation along the coast of Ghana

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Adaramola, Muyiwa S., E-mail: muyiwa.adaramola@umb.no [Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås (Norway); Agelin-Chaab, Martin [Department of Automotive, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, ON (Canada); Paul, Samuel S. [REHAU Industries, Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada)

    2014-01-15

    Highlights: • The wind energy and its economic viability along the coastal region of Ghana are examined. • Wind resource along the coastal region of Ghana fall into Class 2 or less wind resource. • Wind turbine with rated speed from 9 to 11 m/s is suggested for wind power development. • The unit cost of wind generated electricity is found be between 0.0732 GH¢/kW h and 0.2905 GH¢/kW h. - Abstract: This study examined the wind energy potential and the economic viability of using wind turbine for electricity generation in selected locations along the coastal region of Ghana. The two-parameter Weibull probability density function was employed to analyze the wind speed data obtained from the Ghana Energy Commission. The energy output and unit cost of electricity generated from medium size commercial wind turbine models with rated powers ranging from 50 kW to 250 kW were determined. It was found that the wind resource along the coastal region of Ghana can be classified into Class 2 or less wind resource which indicate that this resource in this area is marginally suitable for large scale wind energy development or suitable for small scale applications and be useful as part of hybrid energy system. It was further observed that wind turbine with designed cut-in wind speed of less than 3 m/s and moderate rated wind speed between 9 and 11 m/s is more suitable for wind energy development along the coastal region of Ghana. Based on the selected wind turbine and assumptions used in this study, it was estimated that the unit cost of electricity varied between 0.0695 GH¢/kW h and 0.2817 GH¢/kW h.

  3. Assessment of wind power generation along the coast of Ghana

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adaramola, Muyiwa S.; Agelin-Chaab, Martin; Paul, Samuel S.

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • The wind energy and its economic viability along the coastal region of Ghana are examined. • Wind resource along the coastal region of Ghana fall into Class 2 or less wind resource. • Wind turbine with rated speed from 9 to 11 m/s is suggested for wind power development. • The unit cost of wind generated electricity is found be between 0.0732 GH¢/kW h and 0.2905 GH¢/kW h. - Abstract: This study examined the wind energy potential and the economic viability of using wind turbine for electricity generation in selected locations along the coastal region of Ghana. The two-parameter Weibull probability density function was employed to analyze the wind speed data obtained from the Ghana Energy Commission. The energy output and unit cost of electricity generated from medium size commercial wind turbine models with rated powers ranging from 50 kW to 250 kW were determined. It was found that the wind resource along the coastal region of Ghana can be classified into Class 2 or less wind resource which indicate that this resource in this area is marginally suitable for large scale wind energy development or suitable for small scale applications and be useful as part of hybrid energy system. It was further observed that wind turbine with designed cut-in wind speed of less than 3 m/s and moderate rated wind speed between 9 and 11 m/s is more suitable for wind energy development along the coastal region of Ghana. Based on the selected wind turbine and assumptions used in this study, it was estimated that the unit cost of electricity varied between 0.0695 GH¢/kW h and 0.2817 GH¢/kW h

  4. Development of Regional Wind Resource and Wind Plant Output Datasets for the Hawaiian Islands

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Manobianco, J.; Alonge, C.; Frank, J.; Brower, M.

    2010-07-01

    In March 2009, AWS Truepower was engaged by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to develop a set of wind resource and plant output data for the Hawaiian Islands. The objective of this project was to expand the methods and techniques employed in the Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study (EWITS) to include the state of Hawaii.

  5. Session: What can we learn from developed wind resource areas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thelander, Carl; Erickson, Wally

    2004-09-01

    This session at the Wind Energy and Birds/Bats workshop was composed of two parts intended to examine what existing science tells us about wind turbine impacts at existing wind project sites. Part one dealt with the Altamont Wind Resource area, one of the older wind projects in the US, with a paper presented by Carl Thelander titled ''Bird Fatalities in the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area: A Case Study, Part 1''. Questions addressed by the presenter included: how is avian habitat affected at Altamont and do birds avoid turbine sites; are birds being attracted to turbine strings; what factors contribute to direct impacts on birds by wind turbines at Altamont; how do use, behavior, avoidance and other factors affect risk to avian species, and particularly impacts those species listed as threatened, endangered, or of conservation concern, and other state listed species. The second part dealt with direct impacts to birds at new generation wind plants outside of California, examining such is sues as mortality, avoidance, direct habitat impacts from terrestrial wind projects, species and numbers killed per turbine rates/MW generated, impacts to listed threatened and endangered species, to USFWS Birds of Conservation Concern, and to state listed species. This session focused on newer wind project sites with a paper titled ''Bird Fatality and Risk at New Generation Wind Projects'' by Wally Erickson. Each paper was followed by a discussion/question and answer period.

  6. NaiKun Offshore Wind Energy Project environmental assessment certificate[In the matter of the Environmental Assessment Act S.B.C. 2002, c 43 and in the matter of an application for an Environmental Assessment Certificate by NaiKun Wind Development Inc. for the NaiKun Offshore Wind Energy Project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2009-11-15

    NaiKun Wind Development Inc. has proposed to build a 396 MW wind turbine array to connect Haida Gwaii in the Queen Charlotte Islands to British Columbia's main electricity grid via NaiKun's generation facility. The project involves the installation of 67 to 110 wind turbine generators at the project site. The project also includes an underwater cable and overland transmission line connecting to BC Hydro's grid. An environmental assessment (EA) was undertaken by British Columbia's Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) to evaluate the potential effects on marine physical environment; land use; marine aquatic ecology; visual resources; marine mammals; radio communications; marine birds; navigation; terrestrial ecology; archaeological and heritage resources; employment and economy; and public health. The EAO also assessed relevant issues raised by First Nations during the course of the EA. Upon considering the results of the EA, the BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources granted an EA certificate to NaiKun Wind Development Inc. for its proposed offshore wind energy project. The EA certificate contains many conditions that the proponent must implement throughout various stages of the project. Key commitments include undertaking a joint research project with the local crab fishery; determining the movement of sediment relative to beaches and navigation in the area; implementing an adaptive management plan for marine birds; and implementing a monitoring plan to identify any unforeseen impacts to values and recreational use of Naikoon Provincial Park. Before the project can proceed, the proponent will require provincial licenses, leases and other approvals, as well as necessary federal approvals. tabs.

  7. Evolution of wind towards wind turbine

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Giyanani, A.H.; Bierbooms, W.A.A.M.; Van Bussel, G.J.W.

    2015-01-01

    Remote sensing of the atmospheric variables with the use of LiDAR is a relatively new technology field for wind resource assessment in wind energy. The validation of LiDAR measurements and comparisons is of high importance for further applications of the data.

  8. An Assessment of the Economic Potential of Offshore Wind in the United States from 2015 to 2030

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Beiter, Philipp [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Musial, Walter [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Kilcher, Levi [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Maness, Michael [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Smith, Aaron [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2017-03-29

    This study describes an assessment of the spatial variation of levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and levelized avoided cost of energy to understand the economic viability of fixed-bottom and floating offshore wind technologies across major U.S. coastal areas between 2015 and 2030. In particular, this study offers insights into the available offshore wind resource by region at different levels of LCOE and an assessment of the economically viable resource capacity in the United States.

  9. Wind speed forecasting in the central California wind resource area

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McCarthy, E.F. [Wind Economics & Technology, Inc., Martinez, CA (United States)

    1997-12-31

    A wind speed forecasting program was implemented in the summer seasons of 1985 - 87 in the Central California Wind Resource Area (WRA). The forecasting program is designed to use either meteorological observations from the WRA and local upper air observations or upper air observations alone to predict the daily average windspeed at two locations. Forecasts are made each morning at 6 AM and are valid for a 24 hour period. Ease of use is a hallmark of the program as the daily forecast can be made using data entered into a programmable HP calculator. The forecasting program was the first step in a process to examine whether the electrical energy output of an entire wind power generation facility or defined subsections of the same facility could be predicted up to 24 hours in advance. Analysis of the results of the summer season program using standard forecast verification techniques show the program has skill over persistence and climatology.

  10. Wind Resource Assessment and Forecast Planning with Neural Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicolus K. Rotich

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we built three types of artificial neural networks, namely: Feed forward networks, Elman networks and Cascade forward networks, for forecasting wind speeds and directions. A similar network topology was used for all the forecast horizons, regardless of the model type. All the models were then trained with real data of collected wind speeds and directions over a period of two years in the municipal of Puumala, Finland. Up to 70th percentile of the data was used for training, validation and testing, while 71–85th percentile was presented to the trained models for validation. The model outputs were then compared to the last 15% of the original data, by measuring the statistical errors between them. The feed forward networks returned the lowest errors for wind speeds. Cascade forward networks gave the lowest errors for wind directions; Elman networks returned the lowest errors when used for short term forecasting.

  11. Wind Climate Parameters for Wind Turbine Fatigue Load Assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Toft, Henrik Stensgaard; Svenningsen, Lasse; Moser, Wolfgang

    2016-01-01

    Site-specific assessment of wind turbine design requires verification that the individual wind turbine components can survive the site-specific wind climate. The wind turbine design standard, IEC 61400-1 (third edition), describes how this should be done using a simplified, equivalent wind climate...... climate required by the current design standard by comparing damage equivalent fatigue loads estimated based on wind climate parameters for each 10 min time-series with fatigue loads estimated based on the equivalent wind climate parameters. Wind measurements from Boulder, CO, in the United States...

  12. Computer modelling of the UK wind energy resource: final overview report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Burch, S F; Ravenscroft, F

    1993-12-31

    This report describes the results of a programme of work to estimate the UK wind energy resource. Mean wind speed maps and quantitative resource estimates were obtained using the NOABL mesoscale (1 km resolution) numerical model for the prediction of wind flow over complex terrain. NOABL was used in conjunction with digitised terrain data and wind data from surface meteorological stations for a ten year period (1975-1984) to provide digital UK maps of mean wind speed at 10m, 25m and 45m above ground level. Also included in the derivation of these maps was the use of the Engineering Science Data Unit (ESDU) method to model the effect on wind speed of the abrupt change in surface roughness that occurs at the coast. Existing isovent maps, based on standard meteorological data which take no account of terrain effects, indicate that 10m annual mean wind speeds vary between about 4.5 and 7 m/s over the UK with only a few coastal areas over 6 m/s. The present study indicated that 23% of the UK land area had speeds over 6 m/s, with many hill sites having 10m speeds over 10 m/s. It is concluded that these `first order` resource estimates represent a substantial improvement over the presently available `zero order` estimates. (20 figures, 7 tables, 10 references). (author)

  13. U.S. Department of Energy Regional Resource Centers Report: State of the Wind Industry in the Regions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Baranowski, Ruth [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United St; Oteri, Frank [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United St; Baring-Gould, Ian [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United St; Tegen, Suzanne [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United St

    2016-03-01

    The wind industry and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) are addressing technical challenges to increasing wind energy's contribution to the national grid (such as reducing turbine costs and increasing energy production and reliability), and they recognize that public acceptance issues can be challenges for wind energy deployment. Wind project development decisions are best made using unbiased information about the benefits and impacts of wind energy. In 2014, DOE established six wind Regional Resource Centers (RRCs) to provide information about wind energy, focusing on regional qualities. This document summarizes the status and drivers for U.S. wind energy development on regional and state levels. It is intended to be a companion to DOE's 2014 Distributed Wind Market Report, 2014 Wind Technologies Market Report, and 2014 Offshore Wind Market and Economic Analysis that provide assessments of the national wind markets for each of these technologies.

  14. Multidimensional optimal droop control for wind resources in DC microgrids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bunker, Kaitlyn J.

    Two important and upcoming technologies, microgrids and electricity generation from wind resources, are increasingly being combined. Various control strategies can be implemented, and droop control provides a simple option without requiring communication between microgrid components. Eliminating the single source of potential failure around the communication system is especially important in remote, islanded microgrids, which are considered in this work. However, traditional droop control does not allow the microgrid to utilize much of the power available from the wind. This dissertation presents a novel droop control strategy, which implements a droop surface in higher dimension than the traditional strategy. The droop control relationship then depends on two variables: the dc microgrid bus voltage, and the wind speed at the current time. An approach for optimizing this droop control surface in order to meet a given objective, for example utilizing all of the power available from a wind resource, is proposed and demonstrated. Various cases are used to test the proposed optimal high dimension droop control method, and demonstrate its function. First, the use of linear multidimensional droop control without optimization is demonstrated through simulation. Next, an optimal high dimension droop control surface is implemented with a simple dc microgrid containing two sources and one load. Various cases for changing load and wind speed are investigated using simulation and hardware-in-the-loop techniques. Optimal multidimensional droop control is demonstrated with a wind resource in a full dc microgrid example, containing an energy storage device as well as multiple sources and loads. Finally, the optimal high dimension droop control method is applied with a solar resource, and using a load model developed for a military patrol base application. The operation of the proposed control is again investigated using simulation and hardware-in-the-loop techniques.

  15. The Moulded Site Data (MSD) wind correlation method: description and assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    King, C.; Hurley, B.

    2004-12-01

    The long-term wind resource at a potential windfarm site may be estimated by correlating short-term on-site wind measurements with data from a regional meteorological station. A correlation method developed at Airtricity is described in sufficient detail to be reproduced. An assessment of its performance is also described; the results may serve as a guide to expected accuracy when using the method as part of an annual electricity production estimate for a proposed windfarm. (Author)

  16. Wind as a utility-grade supply resource: A planning framework for the Pacific Northwest

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson, M.S.; Litchfield, J.

    1993-12-01

    Many areas throughout the United States possess favorable wind resources that, as yet, remain undeveloped. This paper provides valuable information on the type of information developers can provide, utility interpretation of the information in regard to electric energy and capacity attributes, and wind resource characteristics of interest to utilities. The paper also reviews key utility planning contexts within which prospective wind resources may be evaluated

  17. Wind Resource Variations Over Selected Sites in the West African Sub-Region

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Iheonu, E. E.; Akingbade, F.O A.; Ocholi, M.

    2002-01-01

    The analysis of wind characteristics and wind resource potentials at 4 locations in the West African sub-region is presented, applying data obtained at the Ibadan central station of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA-Ibadan, Nigeria). The study has shown that the annual variations of wind speed have coefficient of variability between 10 and 15% but the available wind power at the studied locations is generally poor with values ranging between 2 and 10 Wm2 at the standard meteorological height of 10 m. Cotonou (Lat. 6.4 0 N, Long. 2.3 0 E) Benin Republic has however been distinguished from the other three locations in Nigeria, as the most promising site for wind resource development and utilization in the sub-region. With appropriate choice of wind turbine characteristics and design efficiency, establishing wind farms at the Cotonou location for electrical energy production could be feasible

  18. Environmental impact assessment of offshore wind farms: a simulation-based approach

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Perez-Lapena, Blanca; Wijnberg, Kathelijne Mariken; Hulscher, Suzanne J.M.H.; Stein, A.

    2010-01-01

    1.  Assessing and monitoring the impact of offshore wind farms on marine fauna is vital if we want to achieve ecologically sustainable development of this renewable energy resource. Given the complexity of the marine environment, a method capable of accommodating spatio-temporal behaviour of

  19. Avian use of Norris Hill Wind Resource Area, Montana

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Harmata, A.; Podruzny, K.; Zelenak, J. [Montana State Univ., Bozeman, MT (United States). Biology Dept.

    1998-07-01

    This document presents results of a study of avian use and mortality in and near a proposed wind resource area in southwestern Montana. Data collected in autumn 1995 through summer 1996 represented preconstruction condition; it was compiled, analyzed, and presented in a format such that comparison with post-construction data would be possible. The primary emphasis of the study was recording avian migration in and near the wind resource area using state-of-the-art marine surveillance radar. Avian use and mortality were investigated during the breeding season by employing traditional avian sampling methods, radiotelemetry, radar, and direct visual observation. 61 figs., 34 tabs.

  20. Naval Station Newport Wind Resource Assessment. A Study Prepared in Partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency for the RE-Powering America's Land Initiative: Siting Renewable Energy on Potentially Contaminated Land and Mine Sites, and The Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Robichaud, R.; Fields, J.; Roberts, J. O.

    2012-02-01

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched the RE-Powering America's Land initiative to encourage development of renewable energy (RE) on potentially contaminated land and mine sites. EPA is collaborating with the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to evaluate RE options at Naval Station (NAVSTA) Newport in Newport, Rhode Island where multiple contaminated areas pose a threat to human health and the environment. Designated a superfund site on the National Priorities List in 1989, the base is committed to working toward reducing the its dependency on fossil fuels, decreasing its carbon footprint, and implementing RE projects where feasible. The Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center (NFESC) partnered with NREL in February 2009 to investigate the potential for wind energy generation at a number of Naval and Marine bases on the East Coast. NAVSTA Newport was one of several bases chosen for a detailed, site-specific wind resource investigation. NAVSTA Newport, in conjunction with NREL and NFESC, has been actively engaged in assessing the wind resource through several ongoing efforts. This report focuses on the wind resource assessment, the estimated energy production of wind turbines, and a survey of potential wind turbine options based upon the site-specific wind resource.

  1. Wind energy potential in Chile: Assessment of a small scale wind farm for residential clients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Becerra, Miguel; Morán, José; Jerez, Alejandro; Cepeda, Francisco; Valenzuela, Miguel

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • An assessment of a small scale wind farm was carried out. • Two Chilean locations were selected, which are geographically dissimilar. • The software tool selected for the project’s evaluation was HOMER. • All the project’s financial evaluations were negative. • Government policy tools and their applications were discussed. - Abstract: This work presents a techno-financial evaluation of two Chilean locations with promising wind potential: Laguna Verde placed in the central region of the country, and Porvenir in the southern region. A small scale wind farm was studied, considering a nominal electrical production capacity of 90 kW. This facility is comprised of three wind turbine models, all available in the national market. Currently, the tariff method used in Chile is the net billing scheme, where the energy bought and sold to the grid has different prices. The study is based on 300 hypothetical residential households. The software tool used to perform the assessment was the Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources (HOMER). For all the scenarios the results showed a Net Present Cost (NPC), instead of a financial profit from the proposed projects. A sensitivity analysis was also carried out. From the group of variables studied, the NPC exhibited itself as more sensitive to the price of buying energy from the grid and to the annual average wind speed. Finally, a few government policies and their applications are discussed.

  2. A GIS wind resource map with tabular printout of monthly and annual wind speeds for 2,000 towns in Iowa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brower, M.C. [Brower & Company, Andover, MA (United States); Factor, T. [Iowa Wind Energy Institute, Fairfield, IA (United States)

    1997-12-31

    The Iowa Wind Energy Institute, under a grant from the Iowa Energy Center, undertook in 1994 to map wind resources in Iowa. Fifty-meter met towers were erected at 13 locations across the state deemed promising for utility-scale wind farm development. Two years of summarized wind speed, direction, and temperature data were used to create wind resource maps incorporating effects of elevation, relative exposure, terrain roughness, and ground cover. Maps were produced predicting long-term mean monthly and annual wind speeds on a one-kilometer grid. The estimated absolute standard error in the predicted annual average wind speeds at unobstructed locations is 9 percent. The relative standard error between points on the annual map is estimated to be 3 percent. These maps and tabular data for 2,000 cities and towns in Iowa are now available on the Iowa Energy Center`s web site (http.//www.energy.iastate.edu).

  3. A probabilistic assessment of large scale wind power development for long-term energy resource planning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kennedy, Scott Warren

    contribution by synthesizing information from research in power market economics, power system reliability, and environmental impact assessment, to develop a comprehensive methodology for analyzing wind power in the context of long-term energy planning.

  4. 76 FR 36532 - Iberdrola Renewables, Inc., PacifiCorp, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, Invenergy Wind North...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-06-22

    ... Renewables, Inc., PacifiCorp, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, Invenergy Wind North America LLC, Horizon Wind...), Iberdrola Renewables, Inc., PacifiCorp, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, Invenergy Wind North America LLC, and Horizon Wind Energy LLC (Complainants) filed a formal complaint against Bonneville Power Administration...

  5. Growth curves and sustained commissioning modelling of renewable energy: Investigating resource constraints for wind energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Davidsson, Simon; Grandell, Leena; Wachtmeister, Henrik; Höök, Mikael

    2014-01-01

    Several recent studies have proposed fast transitions to energy systems based on renewable energy technology. Many of them dismiss potential physical constraints and issues with natural resource supply, and do not consider the growth rates of the individual technologies needed or how the energy systems are to be sustained over longer time frames. A case study is presented modelling potential growth rates of the wind energy required to reach installed capacities proposed in other studies, taking into account the expected service life of wind turbines. A sustained commissioning model is proposed as a theoretical foundation for analysing reasonable growth patterns for technologies that can be sustained in the future. The annual installation and related resource requirements to reach proposed wind capacity are quantified and it is concluded that these factors should be considered when assessing the feasibility, and even the sustainability, of fast energy transitions. Even a sustained commissioning scenario would require significant resource flows, for the transition as well as for sustaining the system, indefinitely. Recent studies that claim there are no potential natural resource barriers or other physical constraints to fast transitions to renewable energy appear inadequate in ruling out these concerns. - Highlights: • Growth rates and service life is important when evaluating energy transitions. • A sustained commissioning model is suggested for analysing renewable energy. • Natural resource requirements for renewable energy are connected to growth rates. • Arguments by recent studies ruling out physical constraints appear inadequate

  6. Perspectives on an NWCC/NREL Assessment of Distributed Wind

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Parsons, B. (National Renewable Energy Laboratory); Cohen, J. (Princeton Energy Resources International, LLC); DeMeo, E. (Renewable Energy Consulting Services, Inc.)

    2000-09-13

    During 1998 and 1999, the National Wind Coordinating Committee (NWCC) conducted an assessment of distributed wind power. The project team was led by Princeton Economic Research, Inc., now known as Princeton Energy Resources International (PERI). Financial support was provided by the US Department of Energy (DOE) through the wind energy program at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). Project oversight and review were provided by NWCC's Distributed Working Group. The overall objective for the NWCC assessment was to enhance understanding of business, policy, and technical issues associated with the deployment of wind-electric generating systems in the distributed-generation mode. In general, that mode is defined by placement of the generation close to customers-in contrast to large, distant central stations-and by electrical interconnection to the local distribution system-in contrast to higher voltage electrical transmission systems. As a follow-up to the assessment, NWCC intends to prepare a consensus-based issue brief that summarizes its findings and highlights the major results and conclusions for each stakeholder sector. This brief will also identify key action steps that could be undertaken by each stakeholder sector to facilitate the growth of distributed wind. The aim of this paper is to provide input to the NWCC for its consideration in developing the issue brief. Accordingly, this paper is in no way an NWCC consensus document. However, the authors hope to assist in the issue-brief preparation process by providing a starting point for NWCC's consideration. One of the authors, Joseph Cohen, led the team that performed the NWCC assessment. The other two were involved in management of the assessment effort on behalf of the contracting organizations and are active members of the NWCC. They feel the perspectives offered in this paper are well-grounded in the findings of the assessment research

  7. Assessing Resource Assessment for MRE (Invited)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanson, H. P.; Bozec, A.; Duerr, A. S.; Rauchenstein, L. T.

    2010-12-01

    The Southeast National Marine Renewable Energy Center at Florida Atlantic University is concerned with marine renewable energy (MRE) recovery from the Florida Current using marine hydrokinetic technology and, in the future, from the thermocline in the Florida Straits via ocean thermal energy conversion. Although neither concept is new, technology improvements and the evolution of policy now warrant optimism for the future of these potentially rich resources. In moving toward commercial-scale deployments of energy-generating systems, an important first step is accurate and unembellished assessment of the resource itself. In short, we must ask: how much energy might be available? The answer to this deceptively simple question depends, of course, on the technology itself - system efficiencies, for example - but it also depends on a variety of other limiting factors such as deployment strategies, environmental considerations, and the overall economics of MRE in the context of competing energy resources. While it is universally agreed that MRE development must occur within a framework of environmental stewardship, it is nonetheless inevitable that there will be trade-offs between absolute environmental protection and realizing the benefits of MRE implementation. As with solar-energy and wind-power technologies, MRE technologies interact with the environment in which they are deployed. Ecological, societal, and even physical resource concerns all require investigation and, in some cases, mitigation. Moreover, the converse - how will the environment affect the equipment? - presents technical challenges that have confounded the seagoing community forever. Biofouling, for example, will affect system efficiency and create significant maintenance and operations issues. Because this will also affect the economics of MRE, nonlinear interactions among the limiting factors complicate the overall issue of resource assessment significantly. While MRE technology development is

  8. Offshore Wind Resource, Cost, and Economic Potential in the State of Maine

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Musial, Walter D. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2018-02-12

    This report provides information for decision-makers about floating offshore wind technologies in the state of Maine. It summarizes research efforts performed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory between 2015 and 2017 to analyze the resource potential, cost of offshore wind, and economic potential of offshore wind from four primary reports: Musial et al. (2016); Beiter et al. (2016, 2017); and Mone et al. (unpublished). From Musial et al. (2016), Maine's technical offshore wind resource potential ranked seventh in the nation overall with more than 411 terawatt-hours/year of offshore resource generating potential. Although 90% of this wind resource is greater than 9.0-meters-per-second average velocity, most of the resource is over deep water, where floating wind technology is needed. Levelized cost of energy and levelized avoided cost of energy were computed to estimate the unsubsidized 'economic potential' for Maine in the year 2027 (Beiter et al. 2016, 2017). The studies found that Maine may have 65 gigawatts of economic potential by 2027, the highest of any U.S. state. Bottom-line costs for the Aqua Ventus project, which is part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Demonstration project, were released from a proprietary report written by NREL in 2016 for the University of Maine (Mone et al. unpublished). The report findings were that economies of scale and new technology advancements lowered the cost from $300/megawatt-hour (MWh) for the two-turbine 12-megawatt (MW) Aqua Ventus 1 project, to $126/MWh for the commercial-scale, 498-MW Aqua Ventus-2 project. Further cost reductions to $77/MWh were found when new technology advancements were applied for the 1,000-MW Aqua Ventus-3 project in 2030. No new analysis was conducted for this report.

  9. Investigation of wind characteristics and assessment of wind energy potential for Waterloo region, Canada

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Meishen; Li Xianguo

    2005-01-01

    Wind energy becomes more and more attractive as one of the clean renewable energy resources. Knowledge of the wind characteristics is of great importance in the exploitation of wind energy resources for a site. It is essential in designing or selecting a wind energy conversion system for any application. This study examines the wind characteristics for the Waterloo region in Canada based on a data source measured at an elevation 10 m above the ground level over a 5-year period (1999-2003) with the emphasis on the suitability for wind energy technology applications. Characteristics such as annual, seasonal, monthly and diurnal wind speed variations and wind direction variations are examined. Wind speed data reveal that the windy months in Waterloo are from November to April, defined as the Cold Season in this study, with February being the windiest month. It is helpful that the high heating demand in the Cold Season coincides with the windy season. Analysis shows that the day time is the windy time, with 2 p.m. in the afternoon being the windiest moment. Moreover, a model derived from the maximum entropy principle (MEP) is applied to determine the diurnal, monthly, seasonal and yearly wind speed frequency distributions, and the corresponding Lagrangian parameters are determined. Based on these wind speed distributions, this study quantifies the available wind energy potential to provide practical information for the application of wind energy in this area. The yearly average wind power density is 105 W/m 2 . The day and night time wind power density in the Cold Season is 180 and 111 W/m 2 , respectively

  10. 天津近海风能资源的高分辨率数值模拟与评估%High-Resolution Numerical Simulation and Assessment of the Offshore Wind Energy Resource in Tianjin

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    杨艳娟; 李明财; 任雨; 熊明明

    2011-01-01

    Wind energy is a rapidly growing alternative energy source and has been widely developed around the world over the last 10 years. Offshore wind power generation is now becoming a new trend in the development of future wind power generation because wind tends to blow faster and be more uniform over offshore areas than on the land. Accurate assessment of wind energy resource is fundamental and valuable for wind energy developers and potential wind energy users because it allows them to choose a general area of the estimated high wind resource for more detailed examination. However, it is difficult to make direct observations from meteorological variables over offshore areas, which calls for numerical simulation with high resolution so as to derive the availability and potential of wind energy. The distribution of wind energy resources with 1 km horizontal resolution and 10 m vertical resolution in Tianjin coastal areas was simulated using the numerical model MM5 and Calmet to derive wind energy potential over the offshore areas. In addition, the simulation efficiency was determined by comparing observation data with three wind-measurement towers over the same period. Results show that the annual mean wind speed and trend of daily mean wind speed were simulated well, and the relative deviations between observations and simulated values at three wind measurement towers were 7.11%, 12.99%, and 6.14%, respectively. This suggests that the models are effective in assessing the offshore wind energy resource in Tianjin. The long time wind energy resource was obtained by comparing simulated year’s and recent 20 years’ mean wind speed. It was found that annual mean wind speed is (6.6~7.0)m/s, and annual mean wind power density is above 340w/m2, which indicate that the offshore wind energy resource in Tianjin is exploitable and could be used for grid-connected power generation. The assessment shows that the MM5/Calmet model is capable of providing reasonable wind status

  11. Wind energy applications of synthetic aperture radar

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bruun Christiansen, M.

    2006-11-15

    Synthetic aperture radars (SAR), mounted on satellites or aircraft, have proven useful for ocean wind mapping. Wind speeds at the height 10 m may be retrieved from measurements of radar backscatter using empirical model functions. The resulting wind fields are valuable in offshore wind energy planning as a supplement to on site measurements, which are costly and sparse, and model wind fields, which are not fully validated. Two applications of SAR measurements in offshore wind energy planning are addressed here: the study of wind farm wake effects and the potential of using SAR winds in offshore wind resource assessment. Firstly, wind wakes behind two large offshore wind farms in Denmark Horns Rev and Nysted are identified. A region of reduced wind speed is found downstream of both wind farms from the SAR wind fields. The wake extent and magnitude depends on the wind speed, the atmospheric stability, and the fraction of turbines operating. Wind farm wake effects are detected up to 20 km downwind of the last turbine. This distance is longer than predicted by state-of-the art wake models. Wake losses are typically 10-20% near the wind farms. Secondly, the potential of using SAR wind maps in offshore wind resource assessment is investigated. The resource assessment is made through Weibull fitting to frequency observations of wind speed and requires at least 100 satellite observations per year for a given site of interest. Predictions of the energy density are very sensitive to the wind speed and the highest possible accuracy on SAR wind retrievals is therefore sought. A 1.1 m s{sup -1} deviation on the mean wind speed is found through comparison with mast measurements at Horns Rev. The accuracy on mean wind speeds and energy densities found from satellite measurements varies with different empirical model functions. Additional uncertainties are introduced by the infrequent satellite sampling at fixed times of the day. The accuracy on satellite based wind resource

  12. Atlas de Recursos Eólicos del Estado de Oaxaca (The Spanish version of Wind Energy Resource Atlas of Oaxaca)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Elliott, D.; Schwartz, M.; Scott, G.; Haymes, S.; Heimiller, D.; George, R.

    2004-04-01

    The Oaxaca Wind Resource Atlas, produced by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) wind resource group, is the result of an extensive mapping study for the Mexican State of Oaxaca. This atlas identifies the wind characteristics and distribution of the wind resource in Oaxaca. The detailed wind resource maps and other information contained in the atlas facilitate the identification of prospective areas for use of wind energy technologies, both for utility-scale power generation and off-grid wind energy applications.

  13. Analysis of the potential for hydrogen production in the province of Cordoba, Argentina, from wind resources

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rodriguez, C.R.; Santa Cruz, R.; Aisa, S. [Universidad Empresarial Siglo 21, Monsenor Pablo Cabrera s/n calle, 5000 Cordoba (Argentina); Riso, M.; Jimenez Yob, G.; Ottogalli, R. [Subsecretaria de Infraestructuras y Programas, Ministerio de Obras y Servicios Publicos del Gobierno de la Provincia de Cordoba, Av. Poeta Lugones 12, 2do. Piso, 5000 Cordoba (Argentina); Jeandrevin, G. [Instituto Universitario Aeronautico, Avenida Fuerza Aerea km 6 1/2, 5022 Cordoba (Argentina); Leiva, E.P.M. [INFIQC, Unidad de Matematica y Fisica, Facultad de Ciencias Quimicas, Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Haya de la Torre s/n, 5010 Cordoba (Argentina)

    2010-06-15

    The potential for hydrogen production from wind resources in the province of Cordoba, second consumer of fossil fuels for transportation in Argentina, is analyzed. Three aspects of the problem are considered: the evaluation of the hydrogen resource from wind power, the analysis of the production costs via electrolysis and the annual requirements of wind energy to generate hydrogen to fuel the vehicular transport of the province. Different scenarios were considered, including pure hydrogen as well as the so-called CNG plus, where hydrogen is mixed with compressed natural gas in a 20% V/V dilution of the former. The potential for hydrogen production from wind resources is analyzed for each department of the province, excluding those regions not suited for wind farms. The analysis takes into account the efficiency of the electrolyzer and the capacity factor of the wind power system. It is concluded that the automotive transportation could be supplied by hydrogen stemming from wind resources via electrolysis. (author)

  14. A methodology for the prediction of offshore wind energy resources

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Watson, S J; Watson, G M [Rutherford Appleton Lab., Oxfordshire (United Kingdom); Holt, R.J. [Univ. of East Anglia, Climatic Research Unit, Norwich (United Kingdom)] Barthelmie, R.J. [Risoe National Lab., Dept. of Wind Energy and Atmospheric Physics, Roskilde (Denmark); Zuylen, E.J. van [Ecofys Energy and Environment, Utrecht (Netherlands)] Cleijne, J.W. [Kema Sustainable, Arnhem (Netherlands)

    1999-03-01

    There are increasing constraints on the development of wind power on land. Recently, there has been a move to develop wind power offshore, though the amount of measured wind speed data at potential offshore wind farm sites is sparse. We present a novel methodology for the prediction of offshore wind power resources which is being applied to European Union waters. The first stage is to calculate the geostrophic wind from long-term pressure fields over the sea area of interest. Secondly, the geostrophic wind is transformed to the sea level using WA{sup s}P, taking account of near shore topography. Finally, these values are corrected for land/sea climatology (stability) effects using an analytical Coastal discontinuity Model (CDM). These values are further refined using high resolution offshore data at selected sites. The final values are validated against existing offshore datasets. Preliminary results are presented of the geostrophic wind speed validation in European Union waters. (au)

  15. Computer modelling of the UK wind energy resource. Phase 2. Application of the methodology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Burch, S F; Makari, M; Newton, K; Ravenscroft, F; Whittaker, J

    1993-12-31

    This report presents the results of the second phase of a programme to estimate the UK wind energy resource. The overall objective of the programme is to provide quantitative resource estimates using a mesoscale (resolution about 1km) numerical model for the prediction of wind flow over complex terrain, in conjunction with digitised terrain data and wind data from surface meteorological stations. A network of suitable meteorological stations has been established and long term wind data obtained. Digitised terrain data for the whole UK were obtained, and wind flow modelling using the NOABL computer program has been performed. Maps of extractable wind power have been derived for various assumptions about wind turbine characteristics. Validation of the methodology indicates that the results are internally consistent, and in good agreement with available comparison data. Existing isovent maps, based on standard meteorological data which take no account of terrain effects, indicate that 10m annual mean wind speeds vary between about 4.5 and 7 m/s over the UK with only a few coastal areas over 6 m/s. The present study indicates that 28% of the UK land area had speeds over 6 m/s, with many hill sites having 10m speeds over 10 m/s. It is concluded that these `first order` resource estimates represent a substantial improvement over the presently available `zero order` estimates. The results will be useful for broad resource studies and initial site screening. Detailed resource evaluation for local sites will require more detailed local modelling or ideally long term field measurements. (12 figures, 14 tables, 21 references). (Author)

  16. SAR-Based Wind Resource Statistics in the Baltic Sea

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alfredo Peña

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Ocean winds in the Baltic Sea are expected to power many wind farms in the coming years. This study examines satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR images from Envisat ASAR for mapping wind resources with high spatial resolution. Around 900 collocated pairs of wind speed from SAR wind maps and from 10 meteorological masts, established specifically for wind energy in the study area, are compared. The statistical results comparing in situ wind speed and SAR-based wind speed show a root mean square error of 1.17 m s−1, bias of −0.25 m s−1, standard deviation of 1.88 m s−1 and correlation coefficient of R2 0.783. Wind directions from a global atmospheric model, interpolated in time and space, are used as input to the geophysical model function CMOD-5 for SAR wind retrieval. Wind directions compared to mast observations show a root mean square error of 6.29° with a bias of 7.75°, standard deviation of 20.11° and R2 of 0.950. The scale and shape parameters, A and k, respectively, from the Weibull probability density function are compared at only one available mast and the results deviate ~2% for A but ~16% for k. Maps of A and k, and wind power density based on more than 1000 satellite images show wind power density values to range from 300 to 800 W m−2 for the 14 existing and 42 planned wind farms.

  17. State of the art on wind resource estimation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maribo Pedersen, B.

    1998-12-31

    With the increasing number of wind resource estimation studies carried out for regions, countries and even larger areas all over the world, the IEA finds that the time has come to stop and take stock of the various methods used in these studies. The IEA would therefore like to propose an Experts Meeting on wind resource estimation. The Experts Meeting should describe the models and databases used in the various studies. It should shed light on the strengths and shortcomings of the models and answer questions like: where and under what circumstances should a specific model be used? what is the expected accuracy of the estimate of the model? and what is the applicability? When addressing databases the main goal will be to identify the content and scope of these. Further, the quality, availability and reliability of the databases must also be recognised. In the various studies of wind resources the models and databases have been combined in different ways. A final goal of the Experts Meeting is to see whether it is possible to develop systems of methods which would depend on the available input. These systems of methods should be able to address the simple case (level 0) of a region with barely no data, to the complex case of a region with all available measurements: surface observations, radio soundings, satellite observations and so on. The outcome of the meeting should be an inventory of available models as well as databases and a map of already studied regions. (au)

  18. Evaluation of the climate change impact on wind resources in Taiwan Strait

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang, Tsang-Jung; Chen, Chun-Lung; Tu, Yi-Long; Yeh, Hung-Te; Wu, Yu-Ting

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • We propose a new statistical downscaling framework to evaluate the climate change impact on wind resources in Taiwan Strait. • The statistical model relates Weibull distribution parameters to output of a GCM model and regression coefficients. • Validation of the simulated wind speed distribution presents an acceptable agreement with meteorological data. • Three chosen GCMs show the same tendency that the eastern half of Taiwan Strait stores higher wind resources. - Abstract: A new statistical downscaling framework is proposed to evaluate the climate change impact on wind resources in Taiwan Strait. In this framework, a two-parameter Weibull distribution function is used to estimate the wind energy density distribution in the strait. An empirically statistical downscaling model that relates the Weibull parameters to output of a General Circulation Model (GCM) and regression coefficients is adopted. The regression coefficients are calculated using wind speed results obtained from a past climate (1981–2000) simulation reconstructed by a Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. These WRF-reconstructed wind speed results are validated with data collected at a weather station on an islet inside the strait. The comparison shows that the probability distributions of the monthly wind speeds obtained from WRF-reconstructed and measured wind speed data are in acceptable agreement, with small discrepancies of 10.3% and 7.9% for the shape and scale parameters of the Weibull distribution, respectively. The statistical downscaling framework with output from three chosen GCMs (i.e., ECHAM5, CM2.1 and CGCM2.3.2) is applied to evaluate the wind energy density distribution in Taiwan Strait for three future climate periods of 2011–2040, 2041–2070, and 2071–2100. The results show that the wind energy density distributions in the future climate periods are higher in the eastern half of Taiwan Strait, but reduce slightly by 3% compared with that in the

  19. China: an emerging offshore wind development hotspot. With a new assessment of China's offshore wind potential

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reinvang, Rasmus; Enslow, Rachel; Beaumont, Hubert

    2010-08-15

    This study provides new and more detailed estimates of the offshore wind energy resources in China, with particular focus on Southern China. The study points out that the offshore wind industry is ramping up in China with at least 11.9GW in the development pipeline per April 2010. The study estimates the offshore wind potential of China (excluding Taiwan) to 11,580TWh/year. The study proves estimates and wind energy resource maps per province. Fujian, Zhejiang and Hainan stand out with the highest offshore wind speeds in China while Guangdong also shows significant potential, with annual wind speed averages of 6.5-10.2m/s and an energy density range of 12-36GWh/km2. Even though current offshore wind development is mainly taking place in Fujian and Jiangsu, this study shows that the potential is likely even greater in other provinces. The study was developed by the Chinese Wind Energy Association (CWEA) and Sun Yat-sen University, and commissioned by WWF as part of a project funded by the Norwegian Agency of development Coopeartion (Norad). Methodology and constraints: The wind resource analysis improves upon previous studies in estimating the wind energy generation potential for offshore wind power in China, with available meteorological data adjusted for influence of typhoons. The study models how much energy offshore wind can produce along China's coast up to 100km from the shore by calculating the energy output of theoretical wind farms by applying the power curve of a 3MW turbine at a 100m hub height. In addition the study further expands by giving special consideration to the deep-sea offshore potential at +50m water depths. The study focuses particularly on the coastline from Shandong down to Hainan. The final results provide good indication of the offshore wind resource in China when comparing one area to the other. The report can therefore be used as a preliminary tool to identifying most interesting provinces and locations for offshore wind

  20. Management of moderate wind energy coastal resources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karamanis, D.

    2011-01-01

    Research highlights: → Life cycle analysis reveals the viability of moderate wind fields utilization. → Wind turbine is the greenest electricity generator at a touristic site. → Wind parks should be collective applications of small hotel-apartments owners. -- Abstract: The feasibility of wind energy utilization at moderate wind fields was investigated for a typical touristic coastal site in Western Greece. Initially, the wind speed and direction as well as its availability, duration and diurnal variation were assessed. For an analysis period of eight years, the mean wind speed at ten meters was determined as 3.8 m s -1 with a small variation in monthly average wind speeds between 3.0 (January) and 4.4 m s -1 (October). The mean wind power density was less than 200 W m -2 at 10 m indicating the limiting suitability of the site for the usual renewable energy applications. However, life cycle analysis for wind turbine generators with lower cut-in, cut-out, and rated speeds revealed that the energy yield ratio can reach a value of six for a service life of 20 years while the energy pay-back period can be 3 years with 33 kt CO 2 -e of avoided greenhouse emissions. Therefore, the recent technological turbine improvements make wind power viable even at moderate wind fields. Moreover, the study of electricity supply of typical small hotel-apartments in the region of Western Greece indicated that the installation of 300 wind turbine generators in these moderate wind fields would cover the total consumption during the open touristic period with profits during the rest of the year. According to these results, wind turbine generators are the 'greenest' way of generating electricity in touristic coastal sites, even of moderate wind speeds.

  1. Assessing high wind energy penetration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tande, J.O.

    1995-01-01

    In order to convincingly promote installing wind power capacity as a substantial part of the energy supply system, a set of careful analyses must be undertaken. This paper applies a case study concentrated on assessing the cost/benefit of high wind energy penetration. The case study considers expanding the grid connected wind power capacity in Praia, the capital of Cape Verde. The currently installed 1 MW of wind power is estimated to supply close to 10% of the electric energy consumption in 1996. Increasing the wind energy penetration to a higher level is considered viable as the project settings are close to ideal, including a very capable national utility company, Electra, a conventional power supply system based on imported heavy fuel and gas oil, and favourable wind conditions with an estimated annual average of 9.3 m/s at the hub height of the wind turbines. With the applied case study assumptions, simulations with WINSYS over the lifetime of the assessed wind power investment show that investments up to 4.2 MW are economically viable. The economic optimum is found at 2.4 MW reaching an internal rate of return of almost 8% p.a. This 2.4 MW of wind power would, together with the existing wind power, supply over 30% of the electric consumption in 1996. Applying the recommended practices for estimating the cost of wind energy, the life-cycle cost of this 2.4 MW investment is estimated at a 7% discount rate and a 20 year lifetime to 0.26 DKK/kW h. (Author)

  2. Stochastic Prediction of Wind Generating Resources Using the Enhanced Ensemble Model for Jeju Island’s Wind Farms in South Korea

    OpenAIRE

    Deockho Kim; Jin Hur

    2017-01-01

    Due to the intermittency of wind power generation, it is very hard to manage its system operation and planning. In order to incorporate higher wind power penetrations into power systems that maintain secure and economic power system operation, an accurate and efficient estimation of wind power outputs is needed. In this paper, we propose the stochastic prediction of wind generating resources using an enhanced ensemble model for Jeju Island’s wind farms in South Korea. When selecting the poten...

  3. Joint Evaluation of the Wave and Offshore Wind Energy Resources in the Developing Countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eugen Rusu

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The objective of the present work is to assess the global wind and wave resources in the vicinity of some developing countries by evaluating 16-year of data (2001–2016, coming from the European Centre for Medium range Weather Forecast (ECMWF. Until now, not much work has been done to evaluate and use the renewable energy sources from these marine environments. This is because most of the attention was focused on more promising areas, such as the European coasts, which are more advanced in terms of technical and economical aspects. A general perspective of the current energy market from the selected target areas is first presented, indicating at the same time the progresses that have been reported in the field of the renewable energy. Besides the spatial and seasonal variations of the marine resources considered, the results also indicate the energy potential of these coastal environments as well as the performances of some offshore wind turbines, which may operate in these regions.

  4. Evaluation of offshore wind resources by scale of development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Möller, Bernd; Hong, Lixuan; Lonsing, Reinhard

    -economic model operating in a geographical information systems (GIS) environment, which describes resources, costs and area constraints in a spatially explicit way, the relation between project size, location, costs and ownership is analysed. Two scenarios are presented, which describe a state......Offshore wind energy has developed rapidly in terms of turbine and project size, and currently undergoes a significant up-scaling to turbines and parks at greater distance to shore and deeper waters. Expectations to the positive effect of economies of scale on power production costs, however, have...... can be explained by deeper water, higher distance to shore, bottlenecks in supply or higher raw material costs. The present paper addresses the scale of offshore wind parks for Denmark and invites to reconsider the technological and institutional choices made. Based on a continuous resource...

  5. Evaluation of offshore wind resources by scale of development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Möller, Bernd; Hong, Lixuan; Lonsing, Reinhard

    2012-01-01

    -economic model operating in a geographical information systems (GIS) environment, which describes resources, costs and area constraints in a spatially explicit way, the relation between project size, location, costs and ownership is analysed. Two scenarios are presented, which describe a state......Offshore wind energy has developed rapidly in terms of turbine and project size, and currently undergoes a significant up-scaling to turbines and parks at greater distance to shore and deeper waters. Expectations to the positive effect of economies of scale on power production costs, however, have...... can be explained by deeper water, higher distance to shore, bottlenecks in supply or higher raw material costs. The present paper addresses the scale of offshore wind parks for Denmark and invites to reconsider the technological and institutional choices made. Based on a continuous resource...

  6. A pan-European quantitative assessment of soil loss by wind

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borrelli, Pasqualle; Lugato, Emanuele; Panagos, Panos

    2016-04-01

    Soil erosion by wind is a serious environmental problem often low perceived but resulting in severe soil degradation forms. On the long-term a considerable part of topsoil - rich in nutrient and organic matters - could be removed compromising the agricultural productivity and inducing an increased use of fertilizers. Field scale studies and observations proven that wind erosion is a serious problem in many European sites. The state-of-the-art suggests a scenario where wind erosion locally affects the temperate climate areas of the northern European countries, as well as the semi-arid areas of the Mediterranean region. However, observations, field measurements and modelling assessments are extremely limited and unequally distributed across Europe. It implies a lack of knowledge about where and when wind erosion occurs, limiting policy actions aimed at mitigating land degradation. To gain a better understanding about soil degradation process, the Soil Resource Assessment working group of the Joint Research Centre carried out the first pan-European assessments of wind-erodible fraction of soil (EF) (Geoderma, 232, 471-478, 2014) and land susceptibility to wind erosion (Land Degradation & Development, DOI: 10.1002/ldr.2318). Today's challenge is to integrate the insights archived by these pan-European assessments, local experiments and field-scale models into a new generation of regional-scale wind erosion models. A GIS version of the Revised Wind Erosion Equation (RWEQ) was developed with the aim to i) move a step forward into the aforementioned challenges, and ii) evaluate the soil loss potential due to wind erosion in the agricoltural land of the EU. The model scheme was designed to describe daily soil loss potential, combining spatiotemporal conditions of soil erodibility, crust factor, soil moisture content, vegetation coverage and wind erosivity at 1 km2 resolution. The average soil loss predicted by GIS-RWEQ in the EU arable land ranges from 0 to 39.9 Mg ha-1 yr

  7. Reliability Assessment Of Wind Turbines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, John Dalsgaard

    2014-01-01

    Reduction of cost of energy for wind turbines are very important in order to make wind energy competitive compared to other energy sources. Therefore the turbine components should be designed to have sufficient reliability but also not be too costly (and safe). This paper presents models...... for uncertainty modeling and reliability assessment of especially the structural components such as tower, blades, substructure and foundation. But since the function of a wind turbine is highly dependent on many electrical and mechanical components as well as a control system also reliability aspects...... of these components are discussed and it is described how there reliability influences the reliability of the structural components. Two illustrative examples are presented considering uncertainty modeling, reliability assessment and calibration of partial safety factors for structural wind turbine components exposed...

  8. Wind hazard assessment for Point Lepreau Generating Station

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mullin, D.; Moland, M.; Sciaudone, J.C.; Twisdale, L.A.; Vickery, P.J.; Mizzen, D.R.

    2015-01-01

    In response to the CNSC Fukushima Action Plan, NB Power has embarked on a wind hazard assessment for the Point Lepreau Generating Station site that incorporates the latest up to date wind information and modeling. The objective was to provide characterization of the wind hazard from all potential sources and estimate wind-driven missile fragilities and wind pressure fragilities for various structures, systems and components that would provide input to a possible high wind Probabilistic Safety Assessment. The paper will discuss the overall methodology used to assess hazards related to tornadoes, hurricanes and straight-line winds, and site walk-down and hazard/fragility results. (author)

  9. A hybrid measure-correlate-predict method for long-term wind condition assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Jie; Chowdhury, Souma; Messac, Achille; Hodge, Bri-Mathias

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • A hybrid measure-correlate-predict (MCP) methodology with greater accuracy is developed. • Three sets of performance metrics are proposed to evaluate the hybrid MCP method. • Both wind speed and direction are considered in the hybrid MCP method. • The best combination of MCP algorithms is determined. • The developed hybrid MCP method is uniquely helpful for long-term wind resource assessment. - Abstract: This paper develops a hybrid measure-correlate-predict (MCP) strategy to assess long-term wind resource variations at a farm site. The hybrid MCP method uses recorded data from multiple reference stations to estimate long-term wind conditions at a target wind plant site with greater accuracy than is possible with data from a single reference station. The weight of each reference station in the hybrid strategy is determined by the (i) distance and (ii) elevation differences between the target farm site and each reference station. In this case, the wind data is divided into sectors according to the wind direction, and the MCP strategy is implemented for each wind direction sector separately. The applicability of the proposed hybrid strategy is investigated using five MCP methods: (i) the linear regression; (ii) the variance ratio; (iii) the Weibull scale; (iv) the artificial neural networks; and (v) the support vector regression. To implement the hybrid MCP methodology, we use hourly averaged wind data recorded at five stations in the state of Minnesota between 07-01-1996 and 06-30-2004. Three sets of performance metrics are used to evaluate the hybrid MCP method. The first set of metrics analyze the statistical performance, including the mean wind speed, wind speed variance, root mean square error, and mean absolute error. The second set of metrics evaluate the distribution of long-term wind speed; to this end, the Weibull distribution and the Multivariate and Multimodal Wind Distribution models are adopted. The third set of metrics analyze

  10. A tall tower study of Missouri winds

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fox, Neil I. [Department of Soil, Environmental and Atmospheric Sciences, 332 ABNR Building, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211 (United States)

    2011-01-15

    This paper summarizes the results of a study of wind speeds observed at heights up to 150 m above ground level around Missouri. This is an amalgamation of four projects that allowed a total of eleven tall communication towers to be instrumented with wind observation equipment across the State of Missouri. This provided an assessment of the wind resource and the characteristics of the seasonal and diurnal cycles of wind in different areas of Missouri at the heights of utility scale wind turbines. Comparisons were also made to wind speeds predicted at these levels from a previously published wind map. The main finding was that the observed winds at each tower were smaller than those presented in the wind map. The discrepancy is most likely to be due to underestimation of the surface roughness and turbulence leading to an overestimation of near-surface wind shear. However, the wind shear, as expressed by the shear parameter was consistently greater than the 'standard' value of 1.4. The reconciliation of these two apparently contradictory findings is that the shear varies with the height at which it is measured. In wind resource assessment, wind shear is usually observed below 50 m and is tacitly assumed to be constant with height when used to extrapolate winds to higher levels. The author advocates the use of the friction velocity as a measure of shear in wind power applications in preference to the shear parameter that is usually used. This is because the shear parameter has a velocity bias that can also manifest as a bias with height or season. As wind power resource assessment is starting to use taller towers than the standard 50 m, intercomparison of site resources and extrapolation to turbine heights can be compromised if the shear parameter is used. (author)

  11. A new method for wind speed forecasting based on copula theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yuankun; Ma, Huiqun; Wang, Dong; Wang, Guizuo; Wu, Jichun; Bian, Jinyu; Liu, Jiufu

    2018-01-01

    How to determine representative wind speed is crucial in wind resource assessment. Accurate wind resource assessments are important to wind farms development. Linear regressions are usually used to obtain the representative wind speed. However, terrain flexibility of wind farm and long distance between wind speed sites often lead to low correlation. In this study, copula method is used to determine the representative year's wind speed in wind farm by interpreting the interaction of the local wind farm and the meteorological station. The result shows that the method proposed here can not only determine the relationship between the local anemometric tower and nearby meteorological station through Kendall's tau, but also determine the joint distribution without assuming the variables to be independent. Moreover, the representative wind data can be obtained by the conditional distribution much more reasonably. We hope this study could provide scientific reference for accurate wind resource assessments. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. The Energy Commission's notice to the Minister of Natural Resources regarding the place of wind energy in Quebec's energy portfolio

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dumais, A.; Frayne, A.; Tanguay, F.

    1998-01-01

    In December 1997 Quebec's Minister of Natural Resources requested that the Energy Commission advise him on the quota given to wind energy in the future energy development plans of Hydro-Quebec. The Commission's report to the Minister includes 18 recommendations. Among these is a recommendation that an assessment of wind resources be conducted as soon as possible to identify suitable sites for the installation of wind turbines. A provincial program for the development of wind energy is also recommended, to be initiated by the year 2002, and that it should proceed over the next nine years to reach a target production capacity of 450 MW by the year 2011. This production would come from the yearly installation of 60 to 70 wind turbines of 750 kV. The Commission also recommended that in the initial years costs for this wind energy not exceed that of the Le Nordais project, i.e. 5.8 cents per kWh. Any additional costs incurred in the generation of wind electricity over conventional hydro power should be assumed by the Quebec Government. Conversely, in instances where the wind power is sold to consumers outside of the province, Hydro-Quebec should pay for the full cost of this power. 8 tabs., 1 appendix

  13. Performance analysis of wind resource assessment software in different wind sites in México and Brazil

    OpenAIRE

    Jorio, Nyzar

    2010-01-01

    Renewable energy sources are increasing in order to provide power with minimal envi- ronmental impact. The most commercially advanced of these at present is wind power. The production and use of wind energy opens new opportunities for Latin American coun- tries to limit the emissions of carbon dioxide. It will provide a cleaner, sustainable, efficient and competitive energy matrix. According to the Latin American Wind Energy Association (LAWEA), Latin America has an installed capacity of only...

  14. Development of a methodology to assess the climate evolution and its impacts on wind energy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Simard, I. [Moncton Univ., NB (Canada); Yu, W. [Moncton Univ., NB (Canada). Meteorological Research Div.; Gagnon, Y. [Moncton Univ., NB (Canada). K.C. Irving Chair in Sustainable Development

    2010-07-01

    Maps of wind resources were used to develop a method of evaluating climatic changes and their potential impacts on wind energy resources. Global IPCC climate change scenarios were used to predict climatic conditions for the future, while past wind resource availability was simulated and validated using NCEP and NCAR reanalysis data as well as observed meteorological data from Environment Canada. The simulations were used to compare each 5-year period with a 50-year reference period. Regional scale climate change impacts were evaluated using a statistical dynamic down-scaling method. Advanced meteorological models were used to predict wind flow patterns across specific landscapes. The evolution of past wind resource availability was then simulated. Five-year wind resource simulations for a 50-year period were simulated at 25 km{sup 2} wind speeds at 80 m above the ground. Average wind speed variations were then evaluated. The method has been used to simulate 5-year periods within a 50-year reference period in New Brunswick. Further studies will be conducted to simulate future wind resources availability. tabs., figs.

  15. Analysis of available wind resources and their suitability for hydrogen production in the Sacramento area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bartholomy, O.J.

    2004-01-01

    This paper looks at the technical, economic, environmental and regulatory barriers to the production of hydrogen from local wind resources in Sacramento, CA. Both central and distributed hydrogen generation are compared. The technical analysis uses 6 years of hourly wind data from Solano County to define the diurnal and seasonal wind resource. The impacts of a fluctuating power source on the electrolyzer are examined as well as the grid or hydrogen distribution and storage infrastructure constraints for implementation. An economic analysis comparing the price of hydrogen produced from the local wind resource is done with sensitivity analyses for capital and operating costs of both wind turbines and electrolyzers. In addition, the economic analysis includes considerations of increased demand for wind electricity by California utilities attempting to meet their Renewable Portfolio Standards. The environmental analysis compares the emissions reductions of CO 2 and criteria pollutants for different energy usage scenarios. These include comparing electricity and transportation emissions rates to optimize the use of wind energy and natural gas, as well as comparison of SULEV hybrid vehicles with FCV's and H 2 ICE's. Finally, an examination of the existing regulatory structure and policies that could prevent or encourage the use of wind to produce hydrogen in Sacramento is also included. (author)

  16. Combining the VAS 3D interpolation method and Wind Atlas methodology to produce a high-resolution wind resource map for the Czech Republic

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Hanslian, David; Hošek, Jiří

    2015-01-01

    Roč. 77, May (2015), s. 291-299 ISSN 0960-1481 Institutional support: RVO:68378289 Keywords : wind resource map * wind field modelling * wind measurements * wind climatology * Czech Republic * WAsP Subject RIV: DG - Athmosphere Sciences, Meteorology Impact factor: 3.404, year: 2015 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148114008398#

  17. Bird Mortaility at the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area: March 1998--September 2001

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Smallwood, K. S.; Thelander, C. G.

    2005-09-01

    Over the past 15 years, research has shown that wind turbines in the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area (APWRA) kill many birds, including raptors, which are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, and/or state and federal Endangered Species Acts. Early research in the APWRA on avian mortality mainly attempted to identify the extent of the problem. In 1998, however, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) initiated research to address the causal relationships between wind turbines and bird mortality. NREL funded a project by BioResource Consultants to perform this research directed at identifying and addressing the causes of mortality of various bird species from wind turbines in the APWRA.With 580 megawatts (MW) of installed wind turbine generating capacity in the APWRA, wind turbines there provide up to 1 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of emissions-free electricity annually. By identifying and implementing new methods and technologies to reduce or resolve bird mortality in the APWRA, power producers may be able to increase wind turbine electricity production at the site and apply similar mortality-reduction methods at other sites around the state and country.

  18. An integrated assessment for wind energy in Lake Michigan coastal counties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nordman, Erik; VanderMolen, Jon; Gajewski, Betty; Isely, Paul; Fan, Yue; Koches, John; Damm, Sara; Ferguson, Aaron; Schoolmaster, Claire

    2015-04-01

    The benefits and challenges of onshore and offshore wind energy development were assessed for a 4-county area of coastal Michigan. Economic, social, environmental, and spatial dimensions were considered. The coastal counties have suitable wind resources for energy development, which could contribute toward Michigan's 10% renewable energy standard. Wind energy is cost-effective with contract prices less than the benchmark energy price of a new coal-fired power plant. Constructing a 100 MW wind farm could have a $54.7 million economic impact. A patchwork of township-level zoning ordinances regulates wind energy siting. Voluntary collaborations among adjacent townships standardizing the ordinances could reduce regulatory complexity. A Delphi Inquiry on offshore wind energy in Lake Michigan elicited considerable agreement on its challenges, but little agreement on the benefits to coastal communities. Offshore turbines could be acceptable to the participants if they reduced pollution, benefited coastal communities, involved substantial public participation, and had minimal impact on property values and tourism. The US Coast Guard will take a risk-based approach to evaluating individual offshore developments and has no plans to issue blanket restrictions around the wind farms. Models showed that using wind energy to reach the remainder of the 10% renewable energy standard could reduce SO2 , NOx , and CO2 pollution by 4% to 7%. Turbines are highly likely to impact the area's navigational and defense radar systems but planning and technological upgrades can reduce the impact. The integrated assessment shows that responsible wind energy development can enhance the quality of life by reducing air pollution and associated health problems and enhancing economic development. Policies could reduce the negative impacts to local communities while preserving the benefits to the broader region. © 2015 SETAC.

  19. Situation Aware Assessment of Regulating Power Need and Resource

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Heussen, Kai

    2009-01-01

    power plants, but have the capability to provide a number of ancillary services. It is envisioned that wind power may at times provide a certain share of system stabilization, but it must also be seen that this contribution is limited to only a part of the required functions and that it fluctuates...... with the available wind. The approach proposed in this paper uses a functional classification to sort out the control requirements of a power system with a high share of fluctuating renewable and distributed energy sources and aims to combine it with a structured quantitative assessment.......Distributed generation and renewable energy sources are both, new disturbance and new regulation resource. Which it is, depends to a large extend on the facilitation of control capabilities, that for example modern wind turbines can provide. Most renewable energy sources are quite unlike classical...

  20. Wind energy assessment and wind farm simulation in Triunfo - Pernambuco, Brazil

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lima, Laerte; Filho, Celso

    2010-09-15

    The Triunfo wind's characterization, in Pernambuco state, situated in Brazilian northeast, and wind power potential assessment study shows a average wind speed of 11.27 m / s, predominant Southeast wind direction, average wind power density of 1672 W/m2 and Weibull parameters shape and scale equal to 2,0 and 12,7 m/s. The wind farm was simulated by using 850kW wind turbines (total of 20MW). The simulated shows AEP of 111,4 GWh, Cf of 62% and 5462 hours of operation by year. The economical simulated results, shows Pay-back of 3 years, TIR = 47% and VAN = 85.506kEuro booths @ 20 years time period.

  1. Multi-scale wind erosion monitoring and assessment for US rangelands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wind erosion is a major resource concern for rangeland managers. Although wind erosion is a naturally occurring process in many drylands, land use activities, and land management in particular, can accelerate wind-driven soil loss – impacting ecosystem dynamics and agricultural production, air quali...

  2. Resource Sharing in the Logistics of the Offshore Wind Farm Installation Process based on a Simulation Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thies Beinke

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available This present contribution examines by means of a discrete event and agent-based simulation the potential of a joint use of resources in the installation phase of offshore wind energy. To this end, wind farm projects to be installed simultaneously are being examined, the impact of weather restrictions on the processes of loading, transport and installation are also taken into consideration, and both the wind farm specific resource allocation and the approach of a resource pool or resource sharing, respectively, are being implemented. This study is motivated by the large number of wind farms that will be installed in the future and by the potential savings that might be realized through resource sharing. While, so far, the main driver of the resource sharing approach has been the end consumer market, it has been applied in more and more areas, even in relatively conservative industries such as logistics. After the presentation of the backgrounds and of the underlying methodology, and the description of the prior art in this context, the network of the offshore wind energy installation phase will be described. This is the basis for the subsequent determination of the savings potential of a shared resource utilization, which is determined by the performance indicators such as the total installation time and degree of utilization of the resources. The results of the simulation show that weather restrictions have a significant effect on the installation times and the usage times of the resources as well as on their degree of utilization. In addition, the resource sharing approach, has been identified to have significant savings potential for the offshore wind energy installation.

  3. Tidal influence on offshore wind fields and resource predictions[Efficient Development of Offshore Windfarms

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Khan, D. [Entec UK Ltd., Doherty Innovation Centre, Penicuik (United Kingdom); Infield, D. [Loughborough Univ., Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Tecnology, Loughborough (United Kingdom)

    2002-03-01

    The rise and fall of the sea surface due to tides effectively moves an offshore wind turbine hub through the wind shear profile. This effect is quantified using measured data from 3 offshore UK sites. Statistical evidence of the influence of tide on mean wind speed and turbulence is presented. The implications of this effect for predicting offshore wind resource are outlined. (au)

  4. QuikSCAT and SSM/I ocean surface winds for wind energy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hasager, Charlotte Bay; Astrup, Poul; Nielsen, Per

    2007-01-01

    -European mid-latitudes and in the Atlantic trade belt zone are compared. Distinct differences are identified and these agree well with independent data from meteorological masts in the two regions. Seven years of twice daily observations from QuikSCAT are used for the offshore wind resource assessment. Wind...

  5. Reliability assessment of Wind turbines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, John Dalsgaard

    2015-01-01

    Wind turbines can be considered as structures that are in between civil engineering structures and machines since they consist of structural components and many electrical and machine components together with a control system. Further, a wind turbine is not a one-of-a-kind structure...... but manufactured in series production based on many component tests, some prototype tests and zeroseries wind turbines. These characteristics influence the reliability assessment where focus in this paper is on the structural components. Levelized Cost Of Energy is very important for wind energy, especially when...... comparing to other energy sources. Therefore much focus is on cost reductions and improved reliability both for offshore and onshore wind turbines. The wind turbine components should be designed to have sufficient reliability level with respect to both extreme and fatigue loads but also not be too costly...

  6. Assessing high wind energy penetration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tande, J.O.

    1995-01-01

    In order to convincingly promote installing wind power capacity as a substantial part of the energy supply system, a set of careful analyses must be undertaken. This paper applies a case study concentrated on assessing the cost/benefit of high wind energy penetration. The case study considers...... expanding the grid connected wind power capacity in Praia, the capital of Cape Verde. The currently installed 1 MW of wind power is estimated to supply close to 10% of the electric energy consumption in 1996. Increasing the wind energy penetration to a higher level is considered viable as the project...... with the existing wind power, supply over 30% of the electric consumption in 1996. Applying the recommended practices for estimating the cost of wind energy, the life-cycle cost of this 2.4 MW investment is estimated at a 7% discount rate and a 20 year lifetime to 0.26 DKK/kW h....

  7. Human resources challenges for wind energy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cottingham, C. [Electricity Sector Council, Ottawa, ON (Canada)

    2006-07-01

    The potential role of the Electricity Sector Council in wind power workforce development was reviewed. Canada is a major exporter of electricity, and production of electricity in the country has grown by 10 per cent in the last 10 years. The electric industry has become increasingly interested in the development of renewable and sustainable energy sources in order to reduce the environmental impacts of electricity production and use, as well to address potential supply shortages. However, total labour force growth in Canada is expected to drop to 0.5 per cent by 2010, and is expected to keep falling. Engineering and science enrolments in post-secondary institutions are declining. Many immigrants to Canada choose to settle in metropolitan areas, and only 4 in 10 immigrants are able to achieve validation of their credentials in the Canadian education system. One-third of Canadian employees are expected to retire in the next 8 years. The wind energy sector is the fastest growing energy source sector in Canada, and there are limited training facilities available. Competency profiles for roles in the industry are not clearly defined. Many provinces have very little development to support or sustain educational services for wind power training. This presentation suggested that the wind energy sector should prepare for the anticipated workforce shortage by planning training programs and building partnerships in workforce development. Investments in wind power research and development should have contract provisions regarding labour and skills development. Retiring electricity workers may provide a source of labour support. Sector councils provide a neutral forum for employers, educators, and employees, with a focus on human resource development for specific industry sectors. The councils represent an estimated 45 to 50 per cent of the labour market, and have significant federal funding. The Electricity Sector Council offers advanced career and workforce training; youth

  8. Assessment of Offshore Wind System Design, Safety, and Operation Standards

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sirnivas, Senu [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Musial, Walt [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Bailey, Bruce [AWS Trupower LLC, Albany, NY (United States); Filippelli, Matthew [AWS Trupower LLC, Albany, NY (United States)

    2014-01-01

    This report is a deliverable for a project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) entitled National Offshore Wind Energy Resource and Design Data Campaign -- Analysis and Collaboration (contract number DE-EE0005372; prime contractor -- AWS Truepower). The project objective is to supplement, facilitate, and enhance ongoing multiagency efforts to develop an integrated national offshore wind energy data network. The results of this initiative are intended to 1) produce a comprehensive definition of relevant met-ocean resource assets and needs and design standards, and 2) provide a basis for recommendations for meeting offshore wind energy industry data and design certification requirements.

  9. UpWind D1. Uncertainties in wind assessment with LIDAR

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lindeloew-Marsden, P.

    2009-01-15

    In this report sources influencing wind assessments with lidars are listed and discussed. Comparisons with mast mounted cup anemometers are presented and the magnitudes of the errors from the listed error sources are estimated. Finally an attempt to define uncertainty windows for the current state of the two commercial wind sensing lidars is presented. The results in this report give important feedback on system improvements to manufacturers and an estimation of the current ability for wind farm developers which are potential users. (author)

  10. DOE SBIR Phase II Final Technical Report - Assessing Climate Change Effects on Wind Energy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Whiteman, Cameron [Vertum Partners LP, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Capps, Scott [Vertum Partners LP, Los Angeles, CA (United States)

    2014-11-05

    Specialized Vertum Partners software tools were prototyped, tested and commercialized to allow wind energy stakeholders to assess the uncertainties of climate change on wind power production and distribution. This project resulted in three commercially proven products and a marketing tool. The first was a Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) based resource evaluation system. The second was a web-based service providing global 10m wind data from multiple sources to wind industry subscription customers. The third product addressed the needs of our utility clients looking at climate change effects on electricity distribution. For this we collaborated on the Santa Ana Wildfire Threat Index (SAWTi), which was released publicly last quarter. Finally to promote these products and educate potential users we released “Gust or Bust”, a graphic-novel styled marketing publication.

  11. Analysis the Transient Process of Wind Power Resources when there are Voltage Sags in Distribution Grid

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nhu Y, Do

    2018-03-01

    Vietnam has many advantages of wind power resources. Time by time there are more and more capacity as well as number of wind power project in Vietnam. Corresponding to the increase of wind power emitted into national grid, It is necessary to research and analyze in order to ensure the safety and reliability of win power connection. In national distribution grid, voltage sag occurs regularly, it can strongly influence on the operation of wind power. The most serious consequence is the disconnection. The paper presents the analysis of distribution grid's transient process when voltage is sagged. Base on the analysis, the solutions will be recommended to improve the reliability and effective operation of wind power resources.

  12. Practical Robust Optimization Method for Unit Commitment of a System with Integrated Wind Resource

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuanchao Yang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Unit commitment, one of the significant tasks in power system operations, faces new challenges as the system uncertainty increases dramatically due to the integration of time-varying resources, such as wind. To address these challenges, we propose the formulation and solution of a generalized unit commitment problem for a system with integrated wind resources. Given the prespecified interval information acquired from real central wind forecasting system for uncertainty representation of nodal wind injections with their correlation information, the proposed unit commitment problem solution is computationally tractable and robust against all uncertain wind power injection realizations. We provide a solution approach to tackle this problem with complex mathematical basics and illustrate the capabilities of the proposed mixed integer solution approach on the large-scale power system of the Northwest China Grid. The numerical results demonstrate that the approach is realistic and not overly conservative in terms of the resulting dispatch cost outcomes.

  13. Smoothing out the volatility of South Africa’s wind and solar energy resources

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Mushwana, Crescent

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available In the past, renewables were mainly driven by the US, Europe and China, but South Africa is slowly picking up. This presentation discusses South Africa's wind and solar resources as alternative energy resources....

  14. An Assessment of Wind Plant Complex Flows Using Advanced Doppler Radar Measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gunter, W. S.; Schroeder, J.; Hirth, B.; Duncan, J.; Guynes, J.

    2015-12-01

    As installed wind energy capacity continues to steadily increase, the need for comprehensive measurements of wind plant complex flows to further reduce the cost of wind energy has been well advertised by the industry as a whole. Such measurements serve diverse perspectives including resource assessment, turbine inflow and power curve validation, wake and wind plant layout model verification, operations and maintenance, and the development of future advanced wind plant control schemes. While various measurement devices have been matured for wind energy applications (e.g. meteorological towers, LIDAR, SODAR), this presentation will focus on the use of advanced Doppler radar systems to observe the complex wind flows within and surrounding wind plants. Advanced Doppler radars can provide the combined advantage of a large analysis footprint (tens of square kilometers) with rapid data analysis updates (a few seconds to one minute) using both single- and dual-Doppler data collection methods. This presentation demonstrates the utility of measurements collected by the Texas Tech University Ka-band (TTUKa) radars to identify complex wind flows occurring within and nearby operational wind plants, and provide reliable forecasts of wind speeds and directions at given locations (i.e. turbine or instrumented tower sites) 45+ seconds in advance. Radar-derived wind maps reveal commonly observed features such as turbine wakes and turbine-to-turbine interaction, high momentum wind speed channels between turbine wakes, turbine array edge effects, transient boundary layer flow structures (such as wind streaks, frontal boundaries, etc.), and the impact of local terrain. Operational turbine or instrumented tower data are merged with the radar analysis to link the observed complex flow features to turbine and wind plant performance.

  15. Small scale wind power harnessing in Colombian oil industry facilities: Wind resource and technology issues

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Giraldo, Mauricio; Nieto, Cesar; Escudero, Ana C.; Cobos, Juan C.; Delgado, Fernando

    2010-07-01

    Full text: Looking to improve its national and international standing, Colombia's national oil company, Ecopetrol, has set its goal on becoming involved on the production of energy from multiple sources, most importantly, on having an important percentage of its installed capacity from renewable sources. Part of this effort entices the evaluation of wind power potential on its facilities, including production, transportation and administrative, as well as identifying those technologies most suitable for the specific conditions of an equatorial country such as Colombia. Due to the lack of adequate site information, the first step consisted in superimposing national data to the facilities map of the company; this allowed for the selection of the first set of potential sites. From this set, the terminal at Covenas-Sucre was selected taking into account not only wind resource, but ease of access and power needs, as well as having a more or less representative wind potential in comparison to the rest of the country. A weather station was then installed to monitor wind variables. Measurements taken showed high variations in wind direction, and relatively low velocity profiles, making most commercially available wind turbines difficult to implement. In light of the above, a series of iterative steps were taken, first considering a range of individual Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT), given their capacity to adapt to changing wind directions. However, wind speed variations proved to be a challenge for individual VAWT's, i.e. Darriues turbines do not work well with low wind speeds, and Savonius turbines are not efficient of high wind speeds. As a result, a combined Darrieus- Savonius VAWT was selected given the capacity to adapt to both wind regimes, while at the same time modifying the size and shape of the blades in order to adapt to the lower average wind speeds present at the site. The resulting prototype is currently under construction and is scheduled to

  16. WindNet: Improving the impact assessment of wind power projects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher R. Jones

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Growing international demand for renewable energy has led to rapid growth in the wind power sector and wind farms are becoming an increasingly common feature of landscapes and seascapes in many countries. However, as the most appropriate locations within established markets are taken up, and as wind power penetrates new markets, there is an increasing likelihood that proposed projects will encroach on sensitive landscapes and residential areas. This will present challenges for the industry, particularly due to the impact that public opinion can have upon the outcomes of planning decisions about specific projects. This article introduces the four key dimensions of the WindNet programme, which are helping to elucidate some of the socio-technical debates that will likely shape the future of the wind power sector. The article outlines studies investigating (1 public responses to cumulative landscape and visual impacts, (2 the auditory impact of wind power projects on human health, (3 the science of wind farm design and its implications for planning, and (4 the relevance of the democratic deficit explanation of the so-called "social gap" in wind farm siting. The outcomes of the research being conducted by WindNet stand to help reduce uncertainty within the planning process and assist in providing a more comprehensive and fairer assessment of the possible impacts associated with wind power project development.

  17. Hawaii energy strategy project 3: Renewable energy resource assessment and development program

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1995-11-01

    RLA Consulting (RLA) has been retained by the State of Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) to conduct a Renewable Energy Resource Assessment and Development Program. This three-phase program is part of the Hawaii Energy Strategy (HES), which is a multi-faceted program intended to produce an integrated energy strategy for the State of Hawaii. The purpose of Phase 1 of the project, Development of a Renewable Energy Resource Assessment Plan, is to better define the most promising potential renewable energy projects and to establish the most suitable locations for project development in the state. In order to accomplish this goal, RLA has identified constraints and requirements for renewable energy projects from six different renewable energy resources: wind, solar, biomass, hydro, wave, and ocean thermal. These criteria were applied to areas with sufficient resource for commercial development and the results of Phase 1 are lists of projects with the most promising development potential for each of the technologies under consideration. Consideration of geothermal energy was added to this investigation under a separate contract with DBEDT. In addition to the project lists, a monitoring plan was developed with recommended locations and a data collection methodology for obtaining additional wind and solar data. This report summarizes the results of Phase 1. 11 figs., 22 tabs.

  18. Sault Tribe Wind Energy Feasibility Study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Toni Osterhout; Global Energy Concepts

    2005-07-31

    The Sault Tribe conducted a feasibility study on tribal lands in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to determine the technical and economic feasibility of both small and large-scale wind power development on tribal lands. The study included a wind resource assessment, transmission system analysis, engineering and regulatory analyzes and assessments.

  19. On the Wind Energy Resource and Its Trend in the East China Sea

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adekunle Ayodotun Osinowo

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This study utilizes a 30-year (1980–2009 10 m wind field dataset obtained from the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecast to investigate the wind energy potential in the East China Sea (ECS by using Weibull shape and scale parameters. The region generally showed good wind characteristics. The calculated annual mean of the wind power resource revealed the potential of the region for large-scale grid-connected wind turbine applications. Furthermore, the spatiotemporal variations showed strong trends in wind power in regions surrounding Taiwan Island. These regions were evaluated with high wind potential and were rated as excellent locations for installation of large wind turbines for electrical energy generation. Nonsignificant and negative trends dominated the ECS and the rest of the regions; therefore, these locations were found to be suitable for small wind applications. The wind power density exhibited an insignificant trend in the ECS throughout the study period. The trend was strongest during spring and weakest during autumn.

  20. Wind Power Potential at Abandoned Mines in Korea

    Science.gov (United States)

    jang, M.; Choi, Y.; Park, H.; Go, W.

    2013-12-01

    This study performed an assessment of wind power potential at abandoned mines in the Kangwon province by analyzing gross energy production, greenhouse gas emission reduction and economic effects estimated from a 600 kW wind turbine. Wind resources maps collected from the renewable energy data center in Korea Institute of Energy Research(KIER) were used to determine the average wind speed, temperature and atmospheric pressure at hub height(50 m) for each abandoned mine. RETScreen software developed by Natural Resources Canada(NRC) was utilized for the energy, emission and financial analyses of wind power systems. Based on the results from 5 representative mining sites, we could know that the average wind speed at hub height is the most critical factor for assessing the wind power potential. Finally, 47 abandoned mines that have the average wind speed faster than 6.5 m/s were analyzed, and top 10 mines were suggested as relatively favorable sites with high wind power potential in the Kangwon province.

  1. Assessments of wind-energy potential in selected sites from three geopolitical zones in Nigeria: implications for renewable/sustainable rural electrification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okeniyi, Joshua Olusegun; Ohunakin, Olayinka Soledayo; Okeniyi, Elizabeth Toyin

    2015-01-01

    Electricity generation in rural communities is an acute problem militating against socioeconomic well-being of the populace in these communities in developing countries, including Nigeria. In this paper, assessments of wind-energy potential in selected sites from three major geopolitical zones of Nigeria were investigated. For this, daily wind-speed data from Katsina in northern, Warri in southwestern and Calabar in southeastern Nigeria were analysed using the Gumbel and the Weibull probability distributions for assessing wind-energy potential as a renewable/sustainable solution for the country's rural-electrification problems. Results showed that the wind-speed models identified Katsina with higher wind-speed class than both Warri and Calabar that were otherwise identified as low wind-speed sites. However, econometrics of electricity power simulation at different hub heights of low wind-speed turbine systems showed that the cost of electric-power generation in the three study sites was converging to affordable cost per kWh of electric energy from the wind resource at each site. These power simulations identified cost/kWh of electricity generation at Kaduna as €0.0507, at Warri as €0.0774, and at Calabar as €0.0819. These bare positive implications on renewable/sustainable rural electrification in the study sites even as requisite options for promoting utilization of this viable wind-resource energy in the remote communities in the environs of the study sites were suggested.

  2. Assessments of Wind-Energy Potential in Selected Sites from Three Geopolitical Zones in Nigeria: Implications for Renewable/Sustainable Rural Electrification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okeniyi, Joshua Olusegun; Ohunakin, Olayinka Soledayo; Okeniyi, Elizabeth Toyin

    2015-01-01

    Electricity generation in rural communities is an acute problem militating against socioeconomic well-being of the populace in these communities in developing countries, including Nigeria. In this paper, assessments of wind-energy potential in selected sites from three major geopolitical zones of Nigeria were investigated. For this, daily wind-speed data from Katsina in northern, Warri in southwestern and Calabar in southeastern Nigeria were analysed using the Gumbel and the Weibull probability distributions for assessing wind-energy potential as a renewable/sustainable solution for the country's rural-electrification problems. Results showed that the wind-speed models identified Katsina with higher wind-speed class than both Warri and Calabar that were otherwise identified as low wind-speed sites. However, econometrics of electricity power simulation at different hub heights of low wind-speed turbine systems showed that the cost of electric-power generation in the three study sites was converging to affordable cost per kWh of electric energy from the wind resource at each site. These power simulations identified cost/kWh of electricity generation at Kaduna as €0.0507, at Warri as €0.0774, and at Calabar as €0.0819. These bare positive implications on renewable/sustainable rural electrification in the study sites even as requisite options for promoting utilization of this viable wind-resource energy in the remote communities in the environs of the study sites were suggested. PMID:25879063

  3. Wind and Solar Energy Potential Assessment for Development of Renewables Energies Applications in Bucaramanga, Colombia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ordóñez, G; Osma, G; Vergara, P; Rey, J

    2014-01-01

    Currently, the trend of micro-grids and small-scale renewable generation systems implementation in urban environments requires to have historical and detailed information about the energy potential resource in site. In Colombia, this information is limited and do not favor the design of these applications; for this reason, must be made detailed studies of the energy potential in their cities. In this paper is presented the wind and solar energy resource assessment for the city of Bucaramanga, based on the monitoring on four strategic points during the years 2010, 2011 and 2012. According to the analysis, is evidenced a significant solar resource throughout the year ascending on average to 1 734 kWh/m 2 , equivalent to 4.8 kWh/m 2 /day. Also, from a wind statistical study based on the Weibull probability distribution and Wind Power Density (WPD) was established the wind potential as Class 1 according to the scale of the Department of Energy of the United States (DOE), since the average speed is near 1.4 m/s. Due this, it is technically unfeasible the using of micro-turbines in the city, even so their potential for natural ventilation of building was analyzed. Finally, is presented a methodology to analyze solar harvesting by sectors in the city, according to the solar motion and shadowing caused by existing structures

  4. AERO: A Decision Support Tool for Wind Erosion Assessment in Rangelands and Croplands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galloza, M.; Webb, N.; Herrick, J.

    2015-12-01

    Wind erosion is a key driver of global land degradation, with on- and off-site impacts on agricultural production, air quality, ecosystem services and climate. Measuring rates of wind erosion and dust emission across land use and land cover types is important for quantifying the impacts and identifying and testing practical management options. This process can be assisted by the application of predictive models, which can be a powerful tool for land management agencies. The Aeolian EROsion (AERO) model, a wind erosion and dust emission model interface provides access by non-expert land managers to a sophisticated wind erosion decision-support tool. AERO incorporates land surface processes and sediment transport equations from existing wind erosion models and was designed for application with available national long-term monitoring datasets (e.g. USDI BLM Assessment, Inventory and Monitoring, USDA NRCS Natural Resources Inventory) and monitoring protocols. Ongoing AERO model calibration and validation are supported by geographically diverse data on wind erosion rates and land surface conditions collected by the new National Wind Erosion Research Network. Here we present the new AERO interface, describe parameterization of the underpinning wind erosion model, and provide a summary of the model applications across agricultural lands and rangelands in the United States.

  5. Assessment of extreme design loads for modern wind turbines using the probabilistic approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Abdallah, Imad

    There is a large drive to reduce the cost of energy of wind energy generators. Various tracks are being considered such as enhanced O&M strategies through condition monitoring, increased manufacturing efficiency through higher production volumes and increased automation, improved resource...... and drag coefficients showed (a) a tangible reduction in the load partial safety factor for a blade and (b) generally a larger impact on extreme loads during power production compared to stand-still. Therefore, the way forward is for wind turbine manufactures to further update the stochastic model...... assessment through turbine-mounted real-time site assessment technologies, improved components reliability by increased laboratory testing, increased number of prototype test turbines before serial production, larger rotor and tower concepts for both onshore and offshore installations, advanced drive train...

  6. Assessment of Wind Parameter Sensitivity on Extreme and Fatigue Wind Turbine Loads

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Robertson, Amy N [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Sethuraman, Latha [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Jonkman, Jason [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Quick, Julian [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2018-01-12

    Wind turbines are designed using a set of simulations to ascertain the structural loads that the turbine could encounter. While mean hub-height wind speed is considered to vary, other wind parameters such as turbulence spectra, sheer, veer, spatial coherence, and component correlation are fixed or conditional values that, in reality, could have different characteristics at different sites and have a significant effect on the resulting loads. This paper therefore seeks to assess the sensitivity of different wind parameters on the resulting ultimate and fatigue loads on the turbine during normal operational conditions. Eighteen different wind parameters are screened using an Elementary Effects approach with radial points. As expected, the results show a high sensitivity of the loads to the turbulence standard deviation in the primary wind direction, but the sensitivity to wind shear is often much greater. To a lesser extent, other wind parameters that drive loads include the coherence in the primary wind direction and veer.

  7. Assessing the Impacts of Wind Integration in the Western Provinces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sopinka, Amy

    Increasing carbon dioxide levels and the fear of irreversible climate change has prompted policy makers to implement renewable portfolio standards. These renewable portfolio standards are meant to encourage the adoption of renewable energy technologies thereby reducing carbon emissions associated with fossil fuel-fired electricity generation. The ability to efficiently adopt and utilize high levels of renewable energy technology, such as wind power, depends upon the composition of the extant generation within the grid. Western Canadian electric grids are poised to integrate high levels of wind and although Alberta has sufficient and, at times, an excess supply of electricity, it does not have the inherent generator flexibility required to mirror the variability of its wind generation. British Columbia, with its large reservoir storage capacities and rapid ramping hydroelectric generation could easily provide the firming services required by Alberta; however, the two grids are connected only by a small, constrained intertie. We use a simulation model to assess the economic impacts of high wind penetrations in the Alberta grid under various balancing protocols. We find that adding wind capacity to the system impacts grid reliability, increasing the frequency of system imbalances and unscheduled intertie flow. In order for British Columbia to be viable firming resource, it must have sufficient generation capability to meet and exceed the province's electricity self-sufficiency requirements. We use a linear programming model to evaluate the province's ability to meet domestic load under various water and trade conditions. We then examine the effects of drought and wind penetration on the interconnected Alberta -- British Columbia system given differing interconnection sizes.

  8. Four essays on offshore wind power potential, development, regulatory framework, and integration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dhanju, Amardeep

    Offshore wind power is an energy resource whose potential in the US has been recognized only recently. There is now growing interest among the coastal states to harness the resource, particularly in states adjacent to the Mid-Atlantic Bight where the shallow continental shelf allows installation of wind turbines using the existing foundation technology. But the promise of bountiful clean energy from offshore wind could be delayed or forestalled due to policy and regulatory challenges. This dissertation is an effort to identify and address some of the important challenges. Focusing on Delaware as a case study it calculates the extent of the wind resource; considers one means to facilitate resource development---the establishment of statewide and regional public power authorities; analyzes possible regulatory frameworks to manage the resource in state-controlled waters; and assesses the use of distributed storage to manage intermittent output from wind turbines. In order to cover a diversity of topics, this research uses a multi-paper format with four essays forming the body of work. The first essay lays out an accessible methodology to calculate offshore wind resource potential using publicly available data, and uses this methodology to access wind resources off Delaware. The assessment suggests a wind resource approximately four times the average electrical load in Delaware. The second essay examines the potential role of a power authority, a quasi-public institution, in lowering the cost of capital, reducing financial risk of developing and operating a wind farm, and enhancing regional collaboration on resource development and management issues. The analysis suggests that a power authority can lower the cost of offshore wind power by as much as 1/3, thereby preserving the ability to pursue cost-competitive development even if the current federal incentives are removed. The third essay addresses the existing regulatory void in state-controlled waters of Delaware

  9. Estimating near-shore wind resources

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Floors, Rogier Ralph; Hahmann, Andrea N.; Peña, Alfredo

    An evaluation and sensitivity study using the WRF mesoscale model to estimate the wind in a coastal area is performed using a unique data set consisting of scanning, profiling and floating lidars. The ability of the WRF model to represent the wind speed was evaluated by running the model for a four...... grid spacings were performed for each of the two schemes. An evaluation of the wind profile using vertical profilers revealed small differences in modelled mean wind speed between the different set-ups, with the YSU scheme predicting slightly higher mean wind speeds. Larger differences between...... the different simulations were observed when comparing the root-mean-square error (RMSE) between modelled and measured wind, with the ERA interim-based simulations having the lowest errors. The simulations with finer horizontal grid spacing had a larger MSE. Horizontal transects of mean wind speed across...

  10. Stochastic Prediction of Wind Generating Resources Using the Enhanced Ensemble Model for Jeju Island’s Wind Farms in South Korea

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deockho Kim

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Due to the intermittency of wind power generation, it is very hard to manage its system operation and planning. In order to incorporate higher wind power penetrations into power systems that maintain secure and economic power system operation, an accurate and efficient estimation of wind power outputs is needed. In this paper, we propose the stochastic prediction of wind generating resources using an enhanced ensemble model for Jeju Island’s wind farms in South Korea. When selecting the potential sites of wind farms, wind speed data at points of interest are not always available. We apply the Kriging method, which is one of spatial interpolation, to estimate wind speed at potential sites. We also consider a wind profile power law to correct wind speed along the turbine height and terrain characteristics. After that, we used estimated wind speed data to calculate wind power output and select the best wind farm sites using a Weibull distribution. Probability density function (PDF or cumulative density function (CDF is used to estimate the probability of wind speed. The wind speed data is classified along the manufacturer’s power curve data. Therefore, the probability of wind speed is also given in accordance with classified values. The average wind power output is estimated in the form of a confidence interval. The empirical data of meteorological towers from Jeju Island in Korea is used to interpolate the wind speed data spatially at potential sites. Finally, we propose the best wind farm site among the four potential wind farm sites.

  11. The future of wind is growing larger

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hansen, Jesper

    1999-01-01

    This article highlights the dramatic developments in wind turbines over the last 20 years, and notes the increase in efficiency, reduced noise emissions, improvements in manufacturing , and refined resource assessment tools. A summary of the wind turbine market is tabulated, and the increasing size of wind turbines, the assembly of the wind turbines, and current designs are discussed. (UK)

  12. Cumulative effects of wind turbines. A guide to assessing the cumulative effects of wind energy development

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2000-07-01

    This guidance provides advice on how to assess the cumulative effects of wind energy developments in an area and is aimed at developers, planners, and stakeholders interested in the development of wind energy in the UK. The principles of cumulative assessment, wind energy development in the UK, cumulative assessment of wind energy development, and best practice conclusions are discussed. The identification and assessment of the cumulative effects is examined in terms of global environmental sustainability, local environmental quality and socio-economic activity. Supplementary guidance for assessing the principle cumulative effects on the landscape, on birds, and on the visual effect is provided. The consensus building approach behind the preparation of this guidance is outlined in the annexes of the report.

  13. Down-scaling wind energy resource from mesoscale to local scale by nesting and data assimilation with a CFD model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duraisamy Jothiprakasam, Venkatesh

    2014-01-01

    The development of wind energy generation requires precise and well-established methods for wind resource assessment, which is the initial step in every wind farm project. During the last two decades linear flow models were widely used in the wind industry for wind resource assessment and micro-siting. But the linear models inaccuracies in predicting the wind speeds in very complex terrain are well known and led to use of CFD, capable of modeling the complex flow in details around specific geographic features. Mesoscale models (NWP) are able to predict the wind regime at resolutions of several kilometers, but are not well suited to resolve the wind speed and turbulence induced by the topography features on the scale of a few hundred meters. CFD has proven successful in capturing flow details at smaller scales, but needs an accurate specification of the inlet conditions. Thus coupling NWP and CFD models is a better modeling approach for wind energy applications. A one-year field measurement campaign carried out in a complex terrain in southern France during 2007-2008 provides a well-documented data set both for input and validation data. The proposed new methodology aims to address two problems: the high spatial variation of the topography on the domain lateral boundaries, and the prediction errors of the mesoscale model. It is applied in this work using the open source CFD code Code-Saturne, coupled with the mesoscale forecast model of Meteo-France (ALADIN). The improvement is obtained by combining the mesoscale data as inlet condition and field measurement data assimilation into the CFD model. Newtonian relaxation (nudging) data assimilation technique is used to incorporate the measurement data into the CFD simulations. The methodology to reconstruct long term averages uses a clustering process to group the similar meteorological conditions and to reduce the number of CFD simulations needed to reproduce 1 year of atmospheric flow over the site. The assimilation

  14. Wind effects on long-span bridges: Probabilistic wind data format for buffeting and VIV load assessments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoffmann, K.; Srouji, R. G.; Hansen, S. O.

    2017-12-01

    The technology development within the structural design of long-span bridges in Norwegian fjords has created a need for reformulating the calculation format and the physical quantities used to describe the properties of wind and the associated wind-induced effects on bridge decks. Parts of a new probabilistic format describing the incoming, undisturbed wind is presented. It is expected that a fixed probabilistic format will facilitate a more physically consistent and precise description of the wind conditions, which in turn increase the accuracy and considerably reduce uncertainties in wind load assessments. Because the format is probabilistic, a quantification of the level of safety and uncertainty in predicted wind loads is readily accessible. A simple buffeting response calculation demonstrates the use of probabilistic wind data in the assessment of wind loads and responses. Furthermore, vortex-induced fatigue damage is discussed in relation to probabilistic wind turbulence data and response measurements from wind tunnel tests.

  15. Distribution Characteristics and Assessment of Wind Energy Resources at 70 m Height over Fujian Coastal Areas%福建沿海70米高度风能资源分布特点及评估

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    文明章; 吴滨; 林秀芳; 游立军; 杨丽慧

    2011-01-01

    Fujian Province lies in southeastern China,being rich in wind energy resources in its coastal areas due to its special geographical location.In order to evaluate wind energy resources,Fujian Meteorological Bureau built 18 wind towers in the coastal areas and observes wind speed and wind energy resources.Based on observational data at 70 m height from 18 wind towers from Jun 1,2009 to May 31,2010 in Fujian coastal areas,the reserves and distribution characteristics of wind speed and wind energy at 70 m height were analyzed using statistical methods.Results show that there are plenty of wind energy resources in Fujian coastal areas,and the wind energy resources are much richer in the area from mid-southern Fuzhou to the south of Quanzhou than other areas.The annual effective wind power density is (516.7~930.4) W/m2 in the area from mid-southern Fuzhou to the south of Quanzhou where there is the richest wind energy resources in Pingtan island with an annual effective wind power density of as much as 930.4 W/m2 in some places of Pingtan island.In addition,there are much wind energy resources in Chihu of Zhangpu County lying in the south of FuJian whose annual effective wind power density is more than 509.9 W/m2.The reserves and distribution characteristics of wind speed and wind energy are generally consistent with the simulations.Results also show that the mean annual effective hours of wind and its percent are more than 7014.4 h and 80.4%,respectively.The distributions of wind direction and wind energy density were analyzed as well.Results show that the wind direction stability is relatively high and the leading wind direction is obvious,with the northern,middle,and southern parts of Fujian coastal areas being N-NE,N-NNE,and NNE-ENE,respectively.The distribution characteristics of wind energy density are accordant with wind direction,and much more stable than wind direction.According to national standards (GB/T 18710-2002) of wind energy resources,the grade

  16. Assessment Studies regarding the Optimal Sizing of Wind Integrated Hybrid Power Plants for Off-Grid Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petersen, Lennart; Iov, Florin; Tarnowski, German Claudio

    2018-01-01

    The paper focusses on the optimal sizing of off-grid hybrid power plants including wind power generation. A modular and scalable system topology as well as an optimal sizing algorithm for the HPP has been presented in a previous publication. In this paper, the sizing process is evaluated by means...... of assessment studies. The aim is to address the impact of renewable resource data, the required power supply availability and reactive power load demand on the optimal sizing of wind integrated off-grid HPPs....

  17. COMPLEX MAPPING OF ENERGY RESOURCES FOR ALLOCATION OF SOLAR AND WIND ENERGY OBJECTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B. A. Novakovskiy

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents developed methodology of solar and wind energy resources complex mapping at the regional level, taking into account the environmental and socio-economic factors affecting the placement of renewable energy facilities. Methodology provides a reasonable search and allocation of areas, the most promising for the placement of wind and solar power plants.

  18. Marketing prospect and assessment for local manufacture of wind converters in Indonesia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pakpahan, S.; Utami, N.S.

    1996-12-31

    Wind energy resources in Indonesia provide opportunities to improve the delivery of electricity consumption for small and medium scale applications particularly for rural and remote areas and will be developed as the part of national rural electrification programs. By proper selection of design, this kind of energy source has shown to be a technically proven and affordable means of providing electricity at those areas. The promotion of WECS technology have been initiated in Indonesia by establishing some pilot projects at selected areas while in commercialization efforts, several private companies are now being involved. Dissemination of WECS technology should be based on proper selection of WECS types including economic consideration and marketing programs; for obtaining this, manufacturing of some WECS components / parts have been initiating using available materials and components; while other components that`s still not producible in Indonesia will be produced by cooperation with industry. In addition, wind resource assessments will be extended sustainably in order to identify more potential areas and locations. 7 refs., 5 figs.

  19. Should we build wind farms close to load or invest in transmission to access better wind resources in remote areas? A case study in the MISO region

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lamy, Julian V.; Jaramillo, Paulina; Azevedo, Inês L.; Wiser, Ryan

    2016-01-01

    Wind speeds in remote areas are sometimes very high, but transmission costs to access these locations can be prohibitive. We present a conceptual model to estimate the economics of accessing high quality wind resources in remote areas to comply with renewable energy policy targets, and apply the model to the Midwestern grid (MISO) as a case study. We assess the goal of providing 40 TWh of new wind generation while minimizing costs, and include temporal aspects of wind power (variability costs and correlation to market prices) as well as total wind power produced from different farms. We find that building wind farms in North/South Dakota (windiest states) compared to Illinois (less windy, but close to load) would only be economical if the incremental transmission costs to access them were below $360/kW of wind capacity (break-even value). Historically, the incremental transmission costs for wind development in North/South Dakota compared to in Illinois are about twice this value. However, the break-even incremental transmission cost for wind farms in Minnesota/Iowa (also windy states) is $250/kW, which is consistent with historical costs. We conclude that wind development in Minnesota/Iowa is likely more economical to meet MISO renewable targets compared to North/South Dakota or Illinois. - Highlights: •We evaluate the economics of building wind farms in remote areas in MISO. •We present a conceptual wind site selection model to meet 40 TWh of new wind. •We use the model to compare remote windy sites to less windy ones closer to load. •We show break-even transmission costs that would justify remote wind development. •Comparing break-even values to historical costs, MN/IA sites are most economical.

  20. Opportunities and challenges in assessing climate change impacts on wind energy-a critical comparison of wind speed projections in California

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rasmussen, D J; Holloway, T; Nemet, G F

    2011-01-01

    Future climate change is expected to alter the spatial and temporal distribution of surface wind speeds (SWS), with associated impacts on electricity generation from wind energy. However, the predictions for the direction and magnitude of these changes hinge critically on the assessment methods used. Many climate change impact analyses, including those focused on wind energy, use individual climate models and/or statistical downscaling methods rooted in historical observations. Such studies may individually suggest an unrealistically high level of scientific certainty due to the absence of competing projections (over the same region, time period, etc). A new public data archive, the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP), allows for a more comprehensive perspective on regional climate change impacts, here applied to three wind farm sites in California. We employ NARCCAP regional climate model data to estimate changes in SWS expected to occur in the mid-21st century at three wind farm regions: Altamont Pass, San Gorgonio Pass, and Tehachapi Pass. We examined trends in SWS magnitude and frequency using three different global/regional model pairs, focused on model evaluation, seasonal cycle, and long-term trends. Our results, while specific to California, highlight the opportunities and limitations in NARCCAP and other publicly available meteorological data sets for energy analysis, and the importance of using multiple models for climate change impact assessment. Although spatial patterns in current wind conditions agree fairly well among models and with NARR (North American Regional Reanalysis) data, results vary widely at our three sites of interest. This poor performance and model disagreement may be explained by complex topography, limited model resolution, and differences in model physics. Spatial trends and site-specific estimates of annual average changes (1980-2000 versus 2051-71) also differed widely across models. All models

  1. Probabilistic stability and "tall" wind profiles: theory and method for use in wind resource assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kelly, Mark C.; Troen, Ib

    2016-01-01

    A model has been derived for calculating the aggregate effects of stability and the finite height of the planetary boundary layer upon the long-term mean wind profile. A practical implementation of this probabilistic extended similarity-theory model is made, including its incorporation within...... to the methodology. Results of the modeling are shown for a number of sites, with discussion of the models’ efficacy and the relative improvement shown by the new model, for situations where a user lacks local heat flux information, as well as performance of the new model using measured flux statistics. Further...... the European Wind Atlas (EWA) methodology for site-to-site application. Theoretical and practical implications of the EWA methodology are also derived and described, including unprecedented documentation of the theoretical framework encompassing vertical extrapolation, as well as some improvement...

  2. Assessment of Wind Parameter Sensitivity on Ultimate and Fatigue Wind Turbine Loads: Preprint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Robertson, Amy N [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Sethuraman, Latha [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Jonkman, Jason [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Quick, Julian [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2018-02-13

    Wind turbines are designed using a set of simulations to ascertain the structural loads that the turbine could encounter. While mean hub-height wind speed is considered to vary, other wind parameters such as turbulence spectra, sheer, veer, spatial coherence, and component correlation are fixed or conditional values that, in reality, could have different characteristics at different sites and have a significant effect on the resulting loads. This paper therefore seeks to assess the sensitivity of different wind parameters on the resulting ultimate and fatigue loads on the turbine during normal operational conditions. Eighteen different wind parameters are screened using an Elementary Effects approach with radial points. As expected, the results show a high sensitivity of the loads to the turbulence standard deviation in the primary wind direction, but the sensitivity to wind shear is often much greater. To a lesser extent, other wind parameters that drive loads include the coherence in the primary wind direction and veer.

  3. Assessment of the present and future offshore wind power potential: a case study in a target territory of the Baltic Sea near the Latvian coast.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lizuma, Lita; Avotniece, Zanita; Rupainis, Sergejs; Teilans, Artis

    2013-01-01

    Offshore wind energy development promises to be a significant domestic renewable energy source in Latvia. The reliable prediction of present and future wind resources at offshore sites is crucial for planning and selecting the location for wind farms. The overall goal of this paper is the assessment of offshore wind power potential in a target territory of the Baltic Sea near the Latvian coast as well as the identification of a trend in the future wind energy potential for the study territory. The regional climate model CLM and High Resolution Limited Area Model (Hirlam) simulations were used to obtain the wind climatology data for the study area. The results indicated that offshore wind energy is promising for expanding the national electricity generation and will continue to be a stable resource for electricity generation in the region over the 21st century.

  4. Controllable and affordable utility-scale electricity from intermittent wind resources and compressed air energy storage (CAES)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cavallo, Alfred

    2007-01-01

    World wind energy resources are substantial, and in many areas, such as the US and northern Europe, could in theory supply all of the electricity demand. However, the remote or challenging location (i.e. offshore) and especially the intermittent character of the wind resources present formidable barriers to utilization on the scale required by a modern industrial economy. All of these technical challenges can be overcome. Long distance transmission is well understood, while offshore wind technology is being developed rapidly. Intermittent wind power can be transformed to a controllable power source with hybrid wind/compressed air energy storage (CAES) systems. The cost of electricity from such hybrid systems (including transmission) is affordable, and comparable to what users in some modern industrial economies already pay for electricity. This approach to intermittent energy integration has many advantages compared to the current strategy of forcing utilities to cope with supply uncertainty and transmission costs. Above all, it places intermittent wind on an equal technical footing with every other generation technology, including nuclear power, its most important long-term competitor

  5. A new measure-correlate-predict approach for resource assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Joensen, A; Landberg, L [Risoe National Lab., Dept. of Wind Energy and Atmospheric Physics, Roskilde (Denmark); Madsen, H [The Technical Univ. of Denmark, Dept. of Mathematical Modelling, Lyngby (Denmark)

    1999-03-01

    In order to find reasonable candidate site for wind farms, it is of great importance to be able to calculate the wind resource at potential sites. One way to solve this problem is to measure wind speed and direction at the site, and use these measurements to predict the resource. If the measurements at the potential site cover less than e.g. one year, which most likely will be the case, it is not possible to get a reliable estimate of the long-term resource, using this approach. If long-term measurements from e.g. some nearby meteorological station are available, however, then statistical methods can be used to find a relation between the measurements at the site and at the meteorological station. This relation can then be used to transform the long-term measurements to the potential site, and the resource can be calculated using the transformed measurements. Here, a varying-coefficient model, estimated using local regression, is applied in order to establish a relation between the measurements. The approach is evaluated using measurements from two sites, located approximately two kilometres apart, and the results show that the resource in this case can be predicted accurately, although this approach has serious shortcomings. (au)

  6. Wind Development on Tribal Lands

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ken Haukaas; Dale Osborn; Belvin Pete

    2008-01-18

    Background: The Rosebud Sioux Tribe (RST) is located in south central South Dakota near the Nebraska border. The nearest community of size is Valentine, Nebraska. The RST is a recipient of several Department of Energy grants, written by Distributed Generation Systems, Inc. (Disgen), for the purposes of assessing the feasibility of its wind resource and subsequently to fund the development of the project. Disgen, as the contracting entity to the RST for this project, has completed all the pre-construction activities, with the exception of the power purchase agreement and interconnection agreement, to commence financing and construction of the project. The focus of this financing is to maximize the economic benefits to the RST while achieving commercially reasonable rates of return and fees for the other parties involved. Each of the development activities required and its status is discussed below. Land Resource: The Owl Feather War Bonnet 30 MW Wind Project is located on RST Tribal Trust Land of approximately 680 acres adjacent to the community of St. Francis, South Dakota. The RST Tribal Council has voted on several occasions for the development of this land for wind energy purposes, as has the District of St. Francis. Actual footprint of wind farm will be approx. 50 acres. Wind Resource Assessment: The wind data has been collected from the site since May 1, 2001 and continues to be collected and analyzed. The latest projections indicate a net capacity factor of 42% at a hub height of 80 meters. The data has been collected utilizing an NRG 9300 Data logger System with instrumentation installed at 30, 40 and 65 meters on an existing KINI radio tower. The long-term annual average wind speed at 65-meters above ground level is 18.2 mph (8.1 mps) and 18.7 mph (8.4 mps) at 80-meters agl. The wind resource is excellent and supports project financing.

  7. Status report of wind energy programs in the Philippines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Benavidez, P.J. [National Power Corp., Quezon City (Philippines)

    1996-12-31

    This paper discusses the wind resource assessment activities being undertaken by the National Power Corporation at the extreme northern part of Luzon island. Preliminary results from the 10-month wind data are presented. This will give prospective wind developers all idea oil tile vast resources of wind energy available in the northern part of the country. This paper will also discuss briefly the stand-alone 10 kW wind turbine system that was commissioned early this year and the guidelines being drafted for the entry of new and renewable energy sources in the country`s energy generation mix. 4 figs., 1 tab.

  8. Assessing noise from wind farm developments in Ireland: A consideration of critical wind speeds and turbine choice

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    King, E.A.; Pilla, F.; Mahon, J.

    2012-01-01

    Wind farms are becoming increasingly popular in Ireland in an effort to increase the production of green energy within the state. As with any infrastructural development, wind farms must consider potential environmental impacts prior to construction. One particular issue that must be examined is the emission of noise from the development. In Ireland wind farm developments must adhere to planning conditions that usually outline permissible noise levels for both the construction and operational phases of the development. The critical wind speed is often cited as the wind speed at which these limits apply. This paper examines how the critical wind speed is determined and investigates its relationship with background noise levels and turbine choice. The study consisted of ten one-week monitoring periods during which meteorological conditions and background noise levels were simultaneously recorded. It was found that the critical wind speed is non-transferable, i.e. it depends on both the turbine choice and background noise environment and is specific to that particular turbine/site combination. Furthermore the critical wind speed during the night-time is often different to the overall critical wind speed suggesting that future noise studies should consider a range of critical wind speeds, particularly for night-time noise assessments. - Highlights: ► This paper considers the use of the critical wind speed when assessing noise impacts from wind farms. ► It was found that the critical wind speed could vary depending on the time of the day. ► The critical wind speed was found to be a non-transferable value. ► Noise assessments for wind farms should be developed over a range of critical wind speeds.

  9. Life cycle assessment of offshore and onshore sited wind farms

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2004-10-15

    This report makes up the final reporting for the project 'Life cycle assessment (LCA) of turbines Analysis of possibilities of product directed environmental optimisation'. The purpose of the project is to carry through a life cycle assessment of an offshore wind farm and an onshore wind farm, respectively, as a basis for assessment of environmental improvement possibilities for wind farms through their life cycles. Likewise, the results are used to elaborate an environmental declaration of contents for power delivered to the grid from both types of wind farms. The project states the environmental impact for electricity produced at Horns Reef offshore wind farm and Tjaereborg onshore wind farm, respectively, as representatives for contemporary Danish offshore wind farms and onshore wind farms, respectively. Tjaereborg onshore wind farm is placed at an utmost favourably location with regard to wind, which means that the production at this wind farm is high compared with other onshore wind farms in Denmark. The high production rate is a factor that is taken into account when assessing the impact on the environment emanating from this wind farm. The results of the environmental life cycle assessments that have been carried out for the two wind farms do not show significant variance. If it is taken into account that Tjaereborg onshore wind farm is placed utmost favourably, the comparison shows that power from an average located onshore wind farm would have a more adverse or corresponding environmental impact as an unfavourably located offshore wind farm. The results show that it is the turbines that causes the largest environmental impact and not to a very high extent the transmission grid. For the turbines, the all-important environmental contribution comes from manufacturing and removal of the turbines, as it is the materials that cause the large environmental strain. The operation of the wind farms gives practically no contribution to the total

  10. The National Wind Erosion Research Network: Building a standardized long-term data resource for aeolian research, modeling and land management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Webb, Nicholas P.; Herrick, Jeffrey E.; Van Zee, Justin W; Courtright, Ericha M; Hugenholtz, Ted M; Zobeck, Ted M; Okin, Gregory S.; Barchyn, Thomas E; Billings, Benjamin J; Boyd, Robert A.; Clingan, Scott D; Cooper, Brad F; Duniway, Michael C.; Derner, Justin D.; Fox, Fred A; Havstad, Kris M.; Heilman, Philip; LaPlante, Valerie; Ludwig, Noel A; Metz, Loretta J; Nearing, Mark A; Norfleet, M Lee; Pierson, Frederick B; Sanderson, Matt A; Sharrat, Brenton S; Steiner, Jean L; Tatarko, John; Tedela, Negussie H; Todelo, David; Unnasch, Robert S; Van Pelt, R Scott; Wagner, Larry

    2016-01-01

    The National Wind Erosion Research Network was established in 2014 as a collaborative effort led by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the United States Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management, to address the need for a long-term research program to meet critical challenges in wind erosion research and management in the United States. The Network has three aims: (1) provide data to support understanding of basic aeolian processes across land use types, land cover types, and management practices, (2) support development and application of models to assess wind erosion and dust emission and their impacts on human and environmental systems, and (3) encourage collaboration among the aeolian research community and resource managers for the transfer of wind erosion technologies. The Network currently consists of thirteen intensively instrumented sites providing measurements of aeolian sediment transport rates, meteorological conditions, and soil and vegetation properties that influence wind erosion. Network sites are located across rangelands, croplands, and deserts of the western US. In support of Network activities, http://winderosionnetwork.org was developed as a portal for information about the Network, providing site descriptions, measurement protocols, and data visualization tools to facilitate collaboration with scientists and managers interested in the Network and accessing Network products. The Network provides a mechanism for engaging national and international partners in a wind erosion research program that addresses the need for improved understanding and prediction of aeolian processes across complex and diverse land use types and management practices.

  11. Demand side resource operation on the Irish power system with high wind power penetration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Keane, A.; Tuohy, A.; Meibom, Peter

    2011-01-01

    part of the power system plant mix and contribute to the flexible operation of a power system. A model for demand side resources is proposed here that captures its key characteristics for commitment and dispatch calculations. The model is tested on the all island Irish power system, and the operation...... of the functions of conventional peaking plant. Demand side resources are also shown to be capable of improving the reliability of the system, with reserve capability identified as a key requirement in this respect....... of the model is simulated over one year in both a stochastic and deterministic mode, to illustrate the impact of wind and load uncertainty. The results illustrate that demand side resources can contribute to the efficient, flexible operation of systems with high penetrations of wind by replacing some...

  12. Tidal current energy resource assessment in Ireland: Current status and future update

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    O'Rourke, Fergal; Boyle, Fergal; Reynolds, Anthony

    2010-01-01

    Interest in renewable energy in Ireland has increased continually over the past decade. This interest is due primarily to security of supply issues and the effects of climate change. Ireland imports over 90% of its primary energy consumption, mostly in the form of fossil fuels. The exploitation of Ireland's vast indigenous renewable energy resources is required in order to reduce this over-dependence on fossil fuel imports to meet energy demand. Various targets have been set by the Irish government to incorporate renewable energy technologies into Ireland's energy market. As a result of these targets, the development in wind energy has increased substantially over the past decade; however this method of energy extraction is intermittent and unpredictable. Ireland has an excellent tidal current energy resource and the use of this resource will assist in the development of a sustainable energy future. Energy extraction using tidal current energy technologies offers a vast and predictable energy resource. This paper reviews the currently accepted tidal current energy resource assessment for Ireland. This assessment was compiled by Sustainable Energy Ireland in a report in 2004. The assessment employed a 2-dimensional numerical model of the tidal current velocities around Ireland, and from this numerical model the theoretical tidal current energy resource was identified. With the introduction of constraints and limitations, the technical, practical, accessible and viable tidal current energy resources were obtained. The paper discusses why the assessment needs updating including the effect on the assessment of the current stage of development of tidal current turbines and their deployment technology. (author)

  13. Final Environmental Assessment Addressing Implementation of the Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan for Kirtland Air Force Base

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-09-01

    e.g., photovoltaic panels, solar collection, heat recovery systems, wind turbines , green roofs, and habitat-oriented storm water management) would...comprehensive range planning, cultural resources management planning, Bird /Wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard planning, and pest management planning. In addition...manage wildlife resources. Assessment of wildlife populations at Kirtland AFB (e.g., bats, birds , predators, and herptiles) would provide a baseline that

  14. Development of wind power generation in China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhiquan, Y.; Yan, C.; Lijun, X.

    1995-01-01

    Present status and development of wind power generation in China is described in this paper. China is vast in territory with abundant wind resources. The exploitable wind energy in China is estimated up to 253,000 MW. At present, more than 150 thousand small WTGs of a total capacity of 17 MW are used to provide residential electricity uses in non-grid connected areas and 13 wind farms, with above 160 medium and large scale grid connected WTGs (50-500 kW) of a total capacity of 30 MW, have been constructed. At the same time, some progress has been made in the fields of nation-wide wind resource assessment, measurement technology of wind turbine performance, the assimilation of foreign wind turbine technology, grid connected WTG technology and the operation of wind farm etc. It is planned that the total installed capacity of WTGs will reach 1000 MW by the end of 2000. Wind power generation could be a part of electric power industry in China. (Author)

  15. Latin America wind market assessment. Forecast 2013-2022

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2013-10-15

    Wind Power Activities by Country: Developers/Owners, Wind Plant Sizes, Wind Turbines Deployed, Commissioning Dates, Market Share, and Capacity Forecasts Latin American markets are a subject of intense interest from the global wind industry. Wind plant construction across Latin America is modest compared to the more established markets like the United States, Europe, and China, but it is an emerging market that is taking off at a rapid pace. The region has become the hottest alternative growth market for the wind energy industry at a time when growth rates in other markets are flat due to a variety of policy and macroeconomic challenges. Globalization is driving sustainable economic growth in most Latin American countries, resulting in greater energy demand. Wind is increasingly viewed as a valuable and essential answer to increasing electricity generation across most markets in Latin America. Strong wind resources, coupled with today's sophisticated wind turbines, are providing cost-effective generation that is competitive with fossil fuel generation. Most Latin American countries also rely heavily on hydroelectricity, which balances well with variable wind generation. Navigant Research forecasts that if most wind plants under construction with planned commissioning go online as scheduled, annual wind power installations in Latin America will grow from nearly 2.2 GW in 2013 to 4.3 GW by 2022. This Navigant Research report provides a comprehensive view of the wind energy market dynamics at play in Latin America. It offers a country-by-country analysis, outlining the key energy policies and development opportunities and barriers and identifying which companies own operational wind plants and which wind turbine vendors supplied those projects. Market forecasts for wind power installations, capacity, and market share in Latin America, segmented by country and company, extend through 2022. The report also offers an especially close analysis of Brazil and Mexico

  16. Wind Atlas for Egypt

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    The results of a comprehensive, 8-year wind resource assessment programme in Egypt are presented. The objective has been to provide reliable and accurate wind atlas data sets for evaluating the potential wind power output from large electricityproducing wind turbine installations. The regional wind...... climates of Egypt have been determined by two independent methods: a traditional wind atlas based on observations from more than 30 stations all over Egypt, and a numerical wind atlas based on long-term reanalysis data and a mesoscale model (KAMM). The mean absolute error comparing the two methods is about...... 10% for two large-scale KAMM domains covering all of Egypt, and typically about 5% for several smaller-scale regional domains. The numerical wind atlas covers all of Egypt, whereas the meteorological stations are concentrated in six regions. The Wind Atlas for Egypt represents a significant step...

  17. Wind Atlas for Egypt

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mortensen, Niels Gylling; Said Said, Usama; Badger, Jake

    2006-01-01

    The results of a comprehensive, 8-year wind resource assessment programme in Egypt are presented. The objective has been to provide reliable and accurate wind atlas data sets for evaluating the potential wind power output from large electricityproducing wind turbine installations. The regional wind...... climates of Egypt have been determined by two independent methods: a traditional wind atlas based on observations from more than 30 stations all over Egypt, and a numerical wind atlas based on long-term reanalysis data and a mesoscale model (KAMM). The mean absolute error comparing the two methods is about...... 10% for two large-scale KAMM domains covering all of Egypt, and typically about 5% for several smaller-scale regional domains. The numerical wind atlas covers all of Egypt, whereas the meteorological stations are concentrated in six regions. The Wind Atlas for Egypt represents a significant step...

  18. A Transmission-Cost-Based Model to Estimate the Amount of Market-Integrable Wind Resources

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Morales González, Juan Miguel; Pinson, Pierre; Madsen, Henrik

    2012-01-01

    are made to share the expenses in transmission derived from their integration, they may see the doors of electricity markets closed for not being competitive enough. This paper presents a model to decide the amount of wind resources that are economically exploitable at a given location from a transmission......In the pursuit of the large-scale integration of wind power production, it is imperative to evaluate plausible frictions among the stochastic nature of wind generation, electricity markets, and the investments in transmission required to accommodate larger amounts of wind. If wind producers......-cost perspective. This model accounts for the uncertain character of wind by using a modeling framework based on stochastic optimization, simulates market barriers by means of a bi-level structure, and considers the financial risk of investments in transmission through the conditional value-at-risk. The major...

  19. Solar Resource Assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Renne, D.; George, R.; Wilcox, S.; Stoffel, T.; Myers, D.; Heimiller, D.

    2008-02-01

    This report covers the solar resource assessment aspects of the Renewable Systems Interconnection study. The status of solar resource assessment in the United States is described, and summaries of the availability of modeled data sets are provided.

  20. The influence of waves on the offshore wind resource

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lange, B [Risoe National Lab., Roskilde (Denmark); Hoejstrup, J [NEG Micon, Randers (Denmark)

    1999-03-01

    With the growing interest in offshore wind resources, it has become increasingly important to establish and refine models for the interaction between wind and waves in order to obtain accurate models for the sea surface roughness. The simple Charnock relation that has been applied for open sea conditions does not work well in the shallow water near-coastal areas that are important for offshore wind energy. A model for the surface roughness of the sea has been developed based on this concept, using an expression for the Charnock constant as a function of wave age, and then relating the wave `age` to the distance to the nearest upwind coastline. The data used in developing these models originated partly from analysis of data from the Vindeby site, partly from previously published results. The scatter in the data material was considerable and consequently there is a need to test these models further by analysing data from sites exhibiting varying distances to the coast. Results from such analysis of recent data are presented for sites with distances to the coast varying from 10 km to several hundreds of km. The model shows a good agreement also with this data. (au)

  1. Task 2 Report - A GIS-Based Technical Potential Assessment of Domestic Energy Resources for Electricity Generation.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Nathan [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Grue, Nicholas W [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Rosenlieb, Evan [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2018-03-14

    The purpose of this report is to support the Lao Ministry of Energy and Mines in assessing the technical potential of domestic energy resources for utility scale electricity generation in the Lao PDR. Specifically, this work provides assessments of technical potential, and associated maps of developable areas, for energy technologies of interest. This report details the methodology, assumptions, and datasets employed in this analysis to provide a transparent, replicable process for future analyses. The methodology and results presented are intended to be a fundamental input to subsequent decision making and energy planning-related analyses. This work concentrates on domestic energy resources for utility-scale electricity generation and considers solar photovoltaic, wind, biomass, and coal resources. This work does not consider potentially imported energy resources (e.g., natural gas) or domestic energy resources that are not present in sufficient quantity for utility-scale generation (e.g., geothermal resources). A technical potential assessment of hydropower resources is currently not feasible due to the absence of required data including site-level assessments of multiple characteristics (e.g., geology environment and access) as well as spatial data on estimated non-exploited hydropower resources. This report is the second output of the Energy Alternatives Study for the Lao PDR, a collaboration led by the Lao Ministry of Energy and Mines and the United States Agency for International Development under the auspices of the Smart Infrastructure for the Mekong program. The Energy Alternatives Study is composed of five successive tasks that collectively support the project's goals. This work is focused on Task 2 - Assess technical potential of domestic energy resources for electricity generation. The work was carried out by a team from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in collaboration with the Lao Ministry of Energy

  2. A Parametric Genetic Algorithm Approach to Assess Complementary Options of Large Scale Wind-solar Coupling

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Tim; Mareda; Ludovic; Gaudard; Franco; Romerio

    2017-01-01

    The transitional path towards a highly renewable power system based on wind and solar energy sources is investigated considering their intermittent and spatially distributed characteristics. Using an extensive weather-driven simulation of hourly power mismatches between generation and load, we explore the interplay between geographical resource complementarity and energy storage strategies. Solar and wind resources are considered at variable spatial scales across Europe and related to the Swiss load curve, which serve as a typical demand side reference. The optimal spatial distribution of renewable units is further assessed through a parameterized optimization method based on a genetic algorithm. It allows us to explore systematically the effective potential of combined integration strategies depending on the sizing of the system, with a focus on how overall performance is affected by the definition of network boundaries. Upper bounds on integration schemes are provided considering both renewable penetration and needed reserve power capacity. The quantitative trade-off between grid extension, storage and optimal wind-solar mix is highlighted.This paper also brings insights on how optimal geographical distribution of renewable units evolves as a function of renewable penetration and grid extent.

  3. Climate change implications for wind power resources in the Northwest United States

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sailor, David J.; Smith, Michael; Hart, Melissa

    2008-01-01

    Using statistically downscaled output from four general circulation models (GCMs), we have investigated scenarios of climate change impacts on wind power generation potential in a five-state region within the Northwest United States (Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming). All GCM simulations were extracted from the standardized set of runs created for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Analysis of model runs for the 20th century (20c3m) simulations revealed that the direct output of wind statistics from these models is of relatively poor quality compared with observations at airport weather stations within each state. When the GCM output was statistically downscaled, the resulting estimates of current climate wind statistics are substantially better. Furthermore, in looking at the GCM wind statistics for two IPCC future climate scenarios from the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES A1B and A2), there was significant disagreement in the direct model output from the four GCMs. When statistical downscaling was applied to the future climate simulations, a more coherent story unfolded related to the likely impact of climate change on the region's wind power resource. Specifically, the results suggest that summertime wind speeds in the Northwest may decrease by 5-10%, while wintertime wind speeds may decrease by relatively little, or possibly increase slightly. When these wind statistics are projected to typical turbine hub heights and nominal wind turbine power curves are applied, the impact of the climate change scenarios on wind power may be as high as a 40% reduction in summertime generation potential. (author)

  4. Stochastic Analysis of Wind Energy for Wind Pump Irrigation in Coastal Andhra Pradesh, India

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raju, M. M.; Kumar, A.; Bisht, D.; Rao, D. B.

    2014-09-01

    The rapid escalation in the prices of oil and gas as well as increasing demand for energy has attracted the attention of scientists and researchers to explore the possibility of generating and utilizing the alternative and renewable sources of wind energy in the long coastal belt of India with considerable wind energy resources. A detailed analysis of wind potential is a prerequisite to harvest the wind energy resources efficiently. Keeping this in view, the present study was undertaken to analyze the wind energy potential to assess feasibility of the wind-pump operated irrigation system in the coastal region of Andhra Pradesh, India, where high ground water table conditions are available. The stochastic analysis of wind speed data were tested to fit a probability distribution, which describes the wind energy potential in the region. The normal and Weibull probability distributions were tested; and on the basis of Chi square test, the Weibull distribution gave better results. Hence, it was concluded that the Weibull probability distribution may be used to stochastically describe the annual wind speed data of coastal Andhra Pradesh with better accuracy. The size as well as the complete irrigation system with mass curve analysis was determined to satisfy various daily irrigation demands at different risk levels.

  5. Lake Michigan Wind Assessment Analysis, 2012 and 2013

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Charles R Standridge

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available A study was conducted to address the wind energy potential over Lake Michigan to support a commercial wind farm.  Lake Michigan is an inland sea in the upper mid-western United States.  A laser wind sensor mounted on a floating platform was located at the mid-lake plateau in 2012 and about 10.5 kilometers from the eastern shoreline near Muskegon Michigan in 2013.  Range gate heights for the laser wind sensor were centered at 75, 90, 105, 125, 150, and 175 meters.  Wind speed and direction were measured once each second and aggregated into 10 minute averages.  The two sample t-test and the paired-t method were used to perform the analysis.  Average wind speed stopped increasing between 105 m and 150 m depending on location.  Thus, the collected data is inconsistent with the idea that average wind speed increases with height. This result implies that measuring wind speed at wind turbine hub height is essential as opposed to using the wind energy power law to project the wind speed from lower heights.  Average speed at the mid-lake plateau is no more that 10% greater than at the location near Muskegon.  Thus, it may be possible to harvest much of the available wind energy at a lower height and closer to the shoreline than previously thought.  At both locations, the predominate wind direction is from the south-southwest.  The ability of the laser wind sensor to measure wind speed appears to be affected by a lack of particulate matter at greater heights.   Keywords: wind assessment, Lake Michigan, LIDAR wind sensor, statistical analysis. Article History: Received June 15th 2016; Received in revised form January 16th 2017; Accepted February 2nd 2017 Available online How to Cite This Article: Standridge, C., Zeitler, D., Clark, A., Spoelma, T., Nordman, E., Boezaart, T.A., Edmonson, J.,  Howe, G., Meadows, G., Cotel, A. and Marsik, F. (2017 Lake Michigan Wind Assessment Analysis, 2012 and 2013. Int. Journal of Renewable Energy Development

  6. Impacts of climate change on wind energy resources in France: a regionalization study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Najac, J.

    2008-11-01

    In this work, we study the impact of climate change on surface winds in France and draw conclusions concerning wind energy resources. Because of their coarse spatial resolution, climate models cannot properly reproduce the spatial variability of surface winds. Thus, 2 down-scaling methods are developed in order to regionalize an ensemble of climate scenarios: a statistical method based on weather typing and a statistic-dynamical method that resorts to high resolution mesoscale modelling. By 2050, significant but relatively small changes are depicted with, in particular, a decrease of the wind speed in the southern and an increase in the northern regions of France. The use of other down-scaling methods enables us to study several uncertainty sources: it appears that most of the uncertainty is due to the climate models. (author)

  7. The Impact of Variable Wind Shear Coefficients on Risk Reduction of Wind Energy Projects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corscadden, Kenneth W; Thomson, Allan; Yoonesi, Behrang; McNutt, Josiah

    2016-01-01

    Estimation of wind speed at proposed hub heights is typically achieved using a wind shear exponent or wind shear coefficient (WSC), variation in wind speed as a function of height. The WSC is subject to temporal variation at low and high frequencies, ranging from diurnal and seasonal variations to disturbance caused by weather patterns; however, in many cases, it is assumed that the WSC remains constant. This assumption creates significant error in resource assessment, increasing uncertainty in projects and potentially significantly impacting the ability to control gird connected wind generators. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge relating to the evaluation and assessment of wind speed, with particular emphasis on the development of techniques to improve the accuracy of estimated wind speed above measurement height. It presents an evaluation of the use of a variable wind shear coefficient methodology based on a distribution of wind shear coefficients which have been implemented in real time. The results indicate that a VWSC provides a more accurate estimate of wind at hub height, ranging from 41% to 4% reduction in root mean squared error (RMSE) between predicted and actual wind speeds when using a variable wind shear coefficient at heights ranging from 33% to 100% above the highest actual wind measurement.

  8. Online training in WAsP for wind energy professionals

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Badger, Merete; Badger, Jake; Berg, Jacob

    2013-01-01

    An online course in wind energy resource assessment has been developed by the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). The course builds upon a successful physical course, which the Department of Wind Energy at DTU has offered to the wind energy industry for more than 20 years. The course objectives...

  9. Renewable Energy Essentials: Wind

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2008-07-01

    Subjects for further research, specific to wind energy technology, include more refined resource assessment; materials with higher strength to mass ratios; advanced grid integration and power quality and control technologies; standardisation and certification; development of low-wind regime turbines; improved forecasting; increased fatigue resistance of major components such as gearboxes; better models for aerodynamics and aeroelasticity; generators based on superconductor technology; deep-offshore foundations; and high-altitude 'kite' concepts.

  10. 77 FR 2286 - Iberdrola Renewables, Inc., PacifiCorp, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, Invenergy Wind North...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-17

    ... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. EL11-44-000] Iberdrola Renewables, Inc., PacifiCorp, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, Invenergy Wind North America LLC, Horizon Wind Energy LLC v. Bonneville Power Administration; Notice of Designation of Certain Commission Personnel as...

  11. Grid Integration of Offshore Wind | Wind | NREL

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grid Integration of Offshore Wind Grid Integration of Offshore Wind Much can be learned from the existing land-based integration research for handling the variability and uncertainty of the wind resource Arklow Bank offshore wind park consists of seven GE Wind 3.6-MW wind turbines. Integration and

  12. Assessing the representativeness of wind data for wind turbine site evaluation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Renne, D. S.; Corotis, R. B.

    1982-01-01

    Once potential wind turbine sites (either for single installations or clusters) are identified through siting procedures, actual evaluation of the sites must commence. This evaluation is needed to obtain estimates of wind turbine performance and to identify hazards to the machine from the turbulence component of the atmosphere. These estimates allow for more detailed project planning and for preliminary financing arrangements to be secured. The site evaluation process can occur in two stages: (1) utilizing existing nearby data, and (2) establishing and monitoring an onsite measurement program. Since step (2) requires a period of at least 1 yr or more from the time a potential site has been identified, step (1) is often an essential stage in the preliminary evaluation process. Both the methods that have been developed and the unknowns that still exist in assessing the representativeness of available data to a nearby wind turbine site are discussed. How the assessment of the representativeness of available data can be used to develop a more effective onsite meteorological measurement program is also discussed.

  13. Metocean Data Needs Assessment for U.S. Offshore Wind Energy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bailey, Bruce H. [AWS Truepower LLC., Albany, NY (United States); Filippelli, Matthew [AWS Truepower LLC., Albany, NY (United States); Baker, Matthew [AWS Truepower LLC., Albany, NY (United States)

    2015-01-01

    A potential barrier to developing offshore wind energy in the United States is the general lack of accurate information in most offshore areas about the wind resource characteristics and external metocean design conditions at the heights and depths relevant to wind turbines and their associated structures and components. Knowledge of these conditions enables specification of the appropriate design basis for wind turbine structures and components so they can withstand the loads expected over a project’s lifetime. Human safety, vessel navigation, and project construction and maintenance activities are equally tied to the metocean environment. Currently, metocean data is sparse in potential development areas and even when available, does not include the detail or quality required to make informed decisions.

  14. Analysis of the balancing of the wind and solar energy resources in Andalusia (Southern Spain)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santos-Alamillos, F. J.; Pozo-Vazquez, D.; Lara-Fanego, V.; Ruiz-Arias, J. A.; Hernandez-Alvaro, J.; Tova-Pescador, J.

    2010-09-01

    A higher penetration of the renewable energy in the electric system in the future will be conditioned to a reduction of the uncertainty of the yield. A way to obtain this goal is to analyze the balancing between the productions of different sources of renewable energy, trying to combine these productions. In this work we analyze, from a meteorological point of view, the balancing between wind and solar energy resources in Andalusia (southern Iberian Peninsula). To this end, wind speed and global radiation data corresponding to an one year integration of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) model were analyzed. Two method of analysis were used: a point correlation analysis and a Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA). Results from these analyses allow obtaining, eventually, areas of local and distributed balancing between the wind and solar energy resources. The analysis was carried out separately for the different seasons of the year. Results showed, overall, a considerable balancing effect between the wind and solar resources in the mountain areas of the interior of the region, along the coast of the central part of the region and, specially, in the coastal area near the Gibraltar strait. Nevertheless, considerable differences were found between the seasons of the year, which may lead to compensating effects. Autumn proved to be the season with the most significant results.

  15. Wind energy: Overcoming inadequate wind and modeling uncertainties

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kane, Vivek

    2010-09-15

    'Green Energy' is the call of the day, and significance of Wind Energy can never be overemphasized. But the key question here is - What if the wind resources are inadequate? Studies reveal that the probability of finding favorable wind at a given place on land is only 15%. Moreover, there are inherent uncertainties associated with wind business. Can we overcome inadequate wind resources? Can we scientifically quantify uncertainty and model it to make business sense? This paper proposes a solution, by way of break-through Wind Technologies, combined with advanced tools for Financial Modeling, enabling vital business decisions.

  16. Wind diesel systems - design assessment and future potential

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Infield, D.G.; Scotney, A.; Lundsager, P.

    1992-01-01

    Diesels are the obvious form. of back-up electricity generation in small to medium sized wind systems. High wind penetrations pose significant technical problems for the system designer, ranging from component sizing to control specification and dynamic stability. A key role is seen for proven...... system models for assessing both dynamic characteristics and overall performance and economics. An introduction is provided to the Wind Diesel Engineering Design Toolkit currently under development (for implementation on PC) by a consortium of leading wind diesel experts, representing six European...

  17. Remote Sensing of Complex Flows by Doppler Wind Lidar: Issues and Preliminary Recommendations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Clifton, Andrew [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Boquet, Matthieu [Leosphere, Orsay (France); Burin Des Roziers, Edward [UL International Gmbh, Freemont, CA (United States); Westerhellweg, Annette [UL International Gmbh, Freemont, CA (United States); Hofsass, Martin [Univ. of Stuttgart (Germany). Stuttgart Wind Energy; Klaas, Tobias [Fraunhofer Inst. for Wind Energy and Energy System Technology, Freiburg (Germany); Vogstad, Klaus [Meventus, Hamburg (Germany); Clive, Peter [Sgurr Energy, Glasgow (United Kingdom); Harris, Mike [ZephIR Limited, Kirkcudbrightshire (United Kingdom); Wylie, Scott [ZephIR Limited, Kirkcudbrightshire (United Kingdom); Osler, Evan [Renewable NRG Systems, Hinesburg, VT (United States); Banta, Bob [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States); Choukulkar, Aditya [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States); Lundquist, Julie [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); Aitken, Matthew [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)

    2015-12-01

    Remote sensing of winds using lidar has become popular and useful in the wind energy industry. Extensive experience has been gained with using lidar for applications including land-based and offshore resource assessment, plant operations, and turbine control. Prepared by members of International Energy Agency Task 32, this report describes the state of the art in the use of Doppler wind lidar for resource assessment in complex flows. The report will be used as input for future recommended practices on this topic.

  18. Wind measurement via direct detection lidar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Afek, I.; Sela, N.; Narkiss, N.; Shamai, G.; Tsadka, S.

    2013-10-01

    Wind sensing Lidar is considered a promising technology for high quality wind measurements required for various applications such as hub height wind resource assessment, power curve measurements and advanced, real time, forward looking turbine control. Until recently, the only available Lidar technology was based on coherent Doppler shift detection, whose market acceptance has been slow primarily due to its exuberant price. Direct detection Lidar technology provides an alternative to remote sensing of wind by incorporating high precision measurement, a robust design and an affordable price tag.

  19. Assessing the impact of the Tunoe Knob wind park on sea ducks: the influence of food resources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Laursen, K.; Guillemette, M.; Kyed larsen, J.; Clausager, I.

    1999-02-01

    This study deals with the influence of benthos abundance when assessing the potential impact of a small wind park on wintering sea ducks. Using the Before-After-Control-Impact design, it was suggested in a recent study that the wind park provoked a decline in the abundance and a change in the distribution of common eiders Somateria mollissima and common scoters Melanitta nigra. However, the observed decline in sea duck abundance occurred concomitantly with a decline of benthic food supplies. We measured concomitant food and common eider abundance for a fourth year at Tunoe Knob to test the hypothesis that, if food abundance increases again, we should also observe an increase in duck abundance. The methods used in this study are similar to those applied in the aforementioned study. The results showed that the average number of common eiders increased considerably in 1997-98 (3,361 individuals) compared to 1996-97 (458), even surpassing the level observed during the baseline years in 1994-95 (1,821). A significant increase in the abundance of common scoters occurred in 1997-98 compared to 1995-96 and 1996-97, but not in relation to the baseline year. The abundance of food for sea ducks also increased in 1997-98 where the frequency of occurrence of most potential prey reached the level observed during the baseline year. The density of blue mussels, a preferred prey species, was 1,113 individuals m -2 in 1997-98 compared to 11,111 individuals m -2 during the baseline year and only 100 individuals m -2 in 1996-97. Computations of the amount of food supply eaten by wintering common eiders suggest that, during the baseline year, prey were superabundant. This may explain why we observed a great abundance of common eiders in 1997-98 despite the fact that mussel abundance did not reach the level observed during the baseline year. Finally, the distribution of common eiders in 1997-98 on the study site as a whole was very similar to the distribution observed during the

  20. Transient stability risk assessment of power systems incorporating wind farms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Miao, Lu; Fang, Jiakun; Wen, Jinyu

    2013-01-01

    fed induction generator has been established. Wind penetration variation and multiple stochastic factors of power systems have been considered. The process of transient stability risk assessment based on the Monte Carlo method has been described and a comprehensive risk indicator has been proposed......Large-scale wind farm integration has brought several aspects of challenges to the transient stability of power systems. This paper focuses on the research of the transient stability of power systems incorporating with wind farms by utilizing risk assessment methods. The detailed model of double....... An investigation has been conducted into an improved 10-generator 39-bus system with a wind farm incorporated to verify the validity and feasibility of the risk assessment method proposed....

  1. A 100% renewable electricity generation system for New Zealand utilising hydro, wind, geothermal and biomass resources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mason, I.G.; Page, S.C.; Williamson, A.G.

    2010-01-01

    The New Zealand electricity generation system is dominated by hydro generation at approximately 60% of installed capacity between 2005 and 2007, augmented with approximately 32% fossil-fuelled generation, plus minor contributions from geothermal, wind and biomass resources. In order to explore the potential for a 100% renewable electricity generation system with substantially increased levels of wind penetration, fossil-fuelled electricity production was removed from an historic 3-year data set, and replaced by modelled electricity production from wind, geothermal and additional peaking options. Generation mixes comprising 53-60% hydro, 22-25% wind, 12-14% geothermal, 1% biomass and 0-12% additional peaking generation were found to be feasible on an energy and power basis, whilst maintaining net hydro storage. Wind capacity credits ranged from 47% to 105% depending upon the incorporation of demand management, and the manner of operation of the hydro system. Wind spillage was minimised, however, a degree of residual spillage was considered to be an inevitable part of incorporating non-dispatchable generation into a stand-alone grid system. Load shifting was shown to have considerable advantages over installation of new peaking plant. Application of the approach applied in this research to countries with different energy resource mixes is discussed, and options for further research are outlined.

  2. Investigation of wind characteristics and wind energy assessment in Sao Joao do Cariri (SJC) - Paraiba, Brazil

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lima, Laerte; Filho, Celso

    2010-09-15

    In this study wind characterization and wind energy assessment of the Sao Joao do Cariri (SJC) in Paraiba state situated in Brazilian northeast. The average wind speed and temperature for 25 and 50 m were found 4,74m/s, 24,46C and 5,31m/s 24,25C with wind speed predominate direction of SSE (165 degrees). Weibull shape, scale ,Weibull fit wind speed and Power wind density found 2,54, 5,4m/s, 4,76m/s and 103W/m2 for 25m wind height measurements and 2,59, 6,0m/s, 5,36m/s and 145W/m2 for 50m wind height measurements.

  3. Demand side resource operation on the Irish power system with high wind power penetration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Keane, A.; Tuohy, A.; Meibom, P.; Denny, E.; Flynn, D.; Mullane, A.; O'Malley, M.

    2011-01-01

    The utilisation of demand side resources is set to increase over the coming years with the advent of advanced metering infrastructure, home area networks and the promotion of increased energy efficiency. Demand side resources are proposed as an energy resource that, through aggregation, can form part of the power system plant mix and contribute to the flexible operation of a power system. A model for demand side resources is proposed here that captures its key characteristics for commitment and dispatch calculations. The model is tested on the all island Irish power system, and the operation of the model is simulated over one year in both a stochastic and deterministic mode, to illustrate the impact of wind and load uncertainty. The results illustrate that demand side resources can contribute to the efficient, flexible operation of systems with high penetrations of wind by replacing some of the functions of conventional peaking plant. Demand side resources are also shown to be capable of improving the reliability of the system, with reserve capability identified as a key requirement in this respect. - Highlights: → Demand side resource model presented for use in unit commitment and dispatch calculations. → Benefits of demand side aggregation demonstrated specifically as a peaking unit and provider of reserve. → Potential to displace or defer construction of conventional peaking units.

  4. Assessing Capacity Value of Wind Power

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Frew, Bethany A.

    2017-04-18

    This presentation provides a high-level overview of assessing capacity value of wind power, including Impacts of multiple-year data sets, impacts of transmission assumptions, and future research needs.

  5. Methodology for Assessment of Inertial Response from Wind Power Plants

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Altin, Müfit; Teodorescu, Remus; Bak-Jensen, Birgitte

    2012-01-01

    High wind power penetration levels result in additional requirements from wind power in order to improve frequency stability. Replacement of conventional power plants with wind power plants reduces the power system inertia due to the wind turbine technology. Consequently, the rate of change...... of frequency and the maximum frequency deviation increase after a disturbance such as generation loss, load increase, etc. Having no inherent inertial response, wind power plants need additional control concepts in order to provide an additional active power following a disturbance. Several control concepts...... have been implemented in the literature, but the assessment of these control concepts with respect to power system requirements has not been specified. In this paper, a methodology to assess the inertial response from wind power plants is proposed. Accordingly, the proposed methodology is applied...

  6. Life cycle assessment of a wind farm and related externalities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schleisner, Liselotte

    2000-01-01

    This paper concentrates on the assessment of energy and emissions related to the production and manufacture of materials for an offshore wind farm as well as a wind farm on land based on a life cycle analysis (LCA) model. In Denmark a model has been developed for life cycle assessments of different...... materials. The model is able to assess the energy use related to the production, transportation and manufacture of 1 kg of material. The energy use is divided into fuels used in order to estimate the emissions through the life cycle. In the paper the model and the attached assumptions are described......, and the model is demonstrated for two wind farms. The externalities for the wind farms are reported, showing the importance of life cycle assessment for renewable energy technologies. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved....

  7. Offshore wind resources at Danish measurement sites

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barthelmie, R J; Courtney, M S; Lange, B; Nielsen, M; Sempreviva, A M [Risoe National Lab., Dept. of Wind Energy and Atmospheric Physics, Roskilde (Denmark); Svenson, J; Olsen, F [SEAS, Haslev (Denmark); Christensen, T [Elsamprojekt, Fredericia (Denmark)

    1999-03-01

    In order to characterise wind and turbulence characteristics at prospective offshore wind energy sites, meteorological observations from a number of purpose-built offshore monitoring sites have been analyzed and compared with long wind speed time series. New analyses have been conducted on the data sets focussing on meteorology, turbulence, extreme winds and wind and wave interactions. Relationships between wind speed, turbulence and fetch are highly complex. Minimum turbulence intensity offshore is associated with wind speeds of about 12 m/s. At lower wind speeds, stability effects are important while at higher winds speeds wind and wave interactions appear to dominate. On average, turbulence intensity offshore at 48 m height is approximately 0.08 if no coastal effects are present. However, the effect of the coastal discontinuity persists in wind speed and turbulence characteristics for considerable distances offshore. The majority of the adjustment of appears to occur within 20 km of the coast. (au)

  8. Two-Stage Coordinated Operational Strategy for Distributed Energy Resources Considering Wind Power Curtailment Penalty Cost

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jing Qiu

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available The concept of virtual power plant (VPP has been proposed to facilitate the integration of distributed renewable energy. VPP behaves similar to a single entity that aggregates a collection of distributed energy resources (DERs such as distributed generators, storage devices, flexible loads, etc., so that the aggregated power outputs can be flexibly dispatched and traded in electricity markets. This paper presents an optimal scheduling model for VPP participating in day-ahead (DA and real-time (RT markets. In the DA market, VPP aims to maximize the expected profit and reduce the risk in relation to uncertainties. The risk is measured by a risk factor based on the mean-variance Markowitz theory. In the RT market, VPP aims to minimize the imbalance cost and wind power curtailment by adjusting the scheduling of DERs in its portfolio. In case studies, the benefits (e.g., surplus profit and reduced wind power curtailment of aggregated VPP operation are assessed. Moreover, we have investigated how these benefits are affected by different risk-aversion levels and uncertainty levels. According to the simulation results, the aggregated VPP scheduling approach can effectively help the integration of wind power, mitigate the impact of uncertainties, and reduce the cost of risk-aversion.

  9. Combined wind, hydropower and photovoltaic systems for generation of electric power and control of water resources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abid, M.; Karimov, K.S.; Akhmedov, K.M.

    2011-01-01

    In this paper the present day energy consumption and potentialities of utilization of wind- and hydropower resources in some Central and Southern Asian Republics, in particular, in the Republic of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan are presented. The maximum consumption of electric power is observed in winter time when hydropower is the minimum, but wind power is the maximum. At the same time water is needed mostly in summer time for irrigation and in winter time for generation of electric power. This results in conflicts between countries that utilize water mostly for irrigation and those which use water for generation of electric power. It is proposed that the utilization of water with the supplement of wind and solar energy will facilitate the proper and efficient management of water resources in Central Asia. In the future in Tajikistan, wind power systems with a capacity of 30-100 MW and more will be installed, providing power balance of the country in winter; hence saving water in reservoirs, especially in drought years. This will provide the integration of electricity generated by wind, hydroelectric power and photovoltaic system in the unified energy system of the country. (author)

  10. Report on wind energy for small communities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maissan, J.F. [Leading Edge Projects Inc., Whitehorse, YT (Canada)

    2006-04-15

    Wind energy projects can be economically viable in the north under a range of conditions when oil prices are in the range of $60 U.S. per barrel. Some of the requirements for economic viability include locations with economies of scale, availability of local equipment, availability of local technical human resources, access to reasonable transportation, and a committed community and project proponent. This paper presented the results of a study on wind energy in small northern communities. The objective of the paper was to provide an assessment of the feasibility of wind power to community leaders in diesel-dependant remote communities. The paper provided a review of wind power technologies including wind turbines; wind turbine towers; wind-diesel integration; wind penetration levels; anti-icing technology; suppliers of wind-diesel integration systems; and wind turbine manufacturers promoting wind-diesel systems. The paper also provided a review of the historical capital costs for the installation of wind projects; recommendations from project developers; project site selection criteria; as well as a simplified economic analyses for small communities. The paper also discussed the successful Kotzebue Alaska wind-diesel project as a model to follow. It described how to start a wind energy program with reference to the roles of the federal government, territorial governments and their power utilities. It was demonstrated that wind energy can be a cost effective option to reduce diesel generation requirements in the appropriate circumstances. It was concluded that deployment of wind energy in the north still needs to proceed on a carefully planned path beginning with leader projects and branching out from there. In addition, there is a need for good quality wind resource assessment at potential wind project locations in many communities in the north. refs., tabs., figs.

  11. SAT-WIND project. Final report[Winds from satellites for offshore and coastal wind energy mapping and wind-indexing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hasager, C.B.; Astrup, P.; Nielsen, M. (and others)

    2007-04-15

    The SAT-WIND project 'Winds from satellites for offshore and coastal wind energy mapping and wind-indexing' was a research project funded by STVF/DSF in the years 2003 to 2006 (Sagsnr. 2058-03-0006). The goal of the project was to verify the applicability of satellite wind maps derived from passive microwave, altimeter, scatterometer and imaging Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) technologies for wind energy tools for wind resources and wind-indexing. The study area was the Danish Seas including the North Sea, interior seas and the Baltic Sea. The report describes technical details on the satellite data sources including: 1) passive microwave (SSM/I, AMSR-E), 2) passive microwave polarimetric (WindSat), 3) scatterometer (ERS, QuikSCAT, Midori-2 and NSCAT), 4) altimeter (ERS, Topex, Poseidon, GFO-1, Jason-1), 5) SAR (ERS, Envisat). The SAR wind maps were treated in S-WAsP developed by Risoe National Laboratory in cooperation with GRAS A/S in the innovative project SAT-WIND-SMV (Sagsnr. 2104-05-0084) in the years 2005 and 2006 in parallel with SAT-WIND. The results from the SAT-WIND project are presented. These include ocean wind statistics, offshore wind resource estimates and comparison results for wind-indexing. (au)

  12. SAT-WIND project. Final report[Winds from satellites for offshore and coastal wind energy mapping and wind-indexing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hasager, C B; Astrup, P; Nielsen, M [and others

    2007-04-15

    The SAT-WIND project 'Winds from satellites for offshore and coastal wind energy mapping and wind-indexing' was a research project funded by STVF/DSF in the years 2003 to 2006 (Sagsnr. 2058-03-0006). The goal of the project was to verify the applicability of satellite wind maps derived from passive microwave, altimeter, scatterometer and imaging Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) technologies for wind energy tools for wind resources and wind-indexing. The study area was the Danish Seas including the North Sea, interior seas and the Baltic Sea. The report describes technical details on the satellite data sources including: 1) passive microwave (SSM/I, AMSR-E), 2) passive microwave polarimetric (WindSat), 3) scatterometer (ERS, QuikSCAT, Midori-2 and NSCAT), 4) altimeter (ERS, Topex, Poseidon, GFO-1, Jason-1), 5) SAR (ERS, Envisat). The SAR wind maps were treated in S-WAsP developed by Risoe National Laboratory in cooperation with GRAS A/S in the innovative project SAT-WIND-SMV (Sagsnr. 2104-05-0084) in the years 2005 and 2006 in parallel with SAT-WIND. The results from the SAT-WIND project are presented. These include ocean wind statistics, offshore wind resource estimates and comparison results for wind-indexing. (au)

  13. Assessment of Biomass Resources in Afghanistan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Milbrandt, A.; Overend, R.

    2011-01-01

    Afghanistan is facing many challenges on its path of reconstruction and development. Among all its pressing needs, the country would benefit from the development and implementation of an energy strategy. In addition to conventional energy sources, the Afghan government is considering alternative options such as energy derived from renewable resources (wind, solar, biomass, geothermal). Biomass energy is derived from a variety of sources -- plant-based material and residues -- and can be used in various conversion processes to yield power, heat, steam, and fuel. This study provides policymakers and industry developers with information on the biomass resource potential in Afghanistan for power/heat generation and transportation fuels production. To achieve this goal, the study estimates the current biomass resources and evaluates the potential resources that could be used for energy purposes.

  14. Wind energy. To produce electricity with the wind

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bareau, Helene

    2015-11-01

    This guide addresses the different aspects of wind-based power generation. It outlines the role of wind energy to meet objectives related to the share of renewable energies in the French energy mix, that wind energy is actually replacing fossil energies, that it is based on local resources within higher safety and less wastage, that current advances are made to integrate wind energy production into the grid, and that it is a solution to diversify energy production. Some figures are presented and commented, regarding onshore wind energy production in France, the location of wind farms, and wind energy production in comparison with other renewable sources. The operation of a wind turbine is described and the different types of wind turbines are evoked. The issue of wind farm planning with citizen participation is addressed: regional planning, studies of pre-feasibility for location selection, procedure, and content of the impact study (radars, fauna and flora, landscapes, safety, health). Other features are outlined: a planned dismantling, and a globally favourable perception. The next part addresses offshore wind energy: the interesting potential of stronger and more reliable wind at sea (European situation, French opportunities, elements comprised in an offshore wind farm), impacts (on marine ecosystems, on neighbouring localities, and interests for visitors). Economic aspects are then addressed: cost and profitability, economic spin-offs, and perspectives. The last part concerns individuals and the possibilities to participate to wind farm projects or to invest in small wind turbines with some prerequisites (constant and steady winds, installation assessment, required expertise, indispensable preliminary steps, costs, aids and profitability)

  15. Assessment of wind turbine load measurement instrumentation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Morfiadakis, E; Papadopoulos, K [CRES (Greece); Borg, N van der [ECN, Petten (Netherlands); Petersen, S M [Risoe, Roskilde (Denmark); Seifert, H [DEWI, Wilhelmshaven (Germany)

    1999-03-01

    In the framework of Sub-Task3 `Wind turbine load measurement instrumentation` of EU-project `European Wind Turbine Testing Procedure Development`, the load measurement techniques have been assessed by laboratory, full scale and numerical tests. The existing methods have been reviewed with emphasis on the strain gage application techniques on composite materials and recommendations are provided for the optimisation of load measurement techniques. (au) EU. 14 refs.

  16. Atmospheric air density analysis with Meteo-40S wind monitoring system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zahariea Dănuţ

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In order to estimate the wind potential of wind turbine sites, the wind resource maps can be used for mean annual wind speed, wind speed frequency distribution and mean annual wind power density determination. The general evaluation of the wind resource and the wind turbine ratings are based on the standard air density measured at sea level and at 15°C, ρs=1.225 kg/m3. Based on the experimental data obtained for a continental climate specific location, this study will present the relative error between the standard air density and the density of the dry and the moist air. Considering a cold day, for example on Friday 10th February 2017, on 1-second measurement rate and 10-minute measuring interval starting at 16:20, the mean relative errors obtained are 10.4145% for dry air, and 10.3634% for moist air. Based on these results, a correction for temperature, atmospheric air pressure and relative humidity should be always considered for wind resource assessment, as well as for the predicting the wind turbines performance.

  17. An assessment of the environmental effects of offshore wind farms

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2000-07-01

    This report focuses on the development of an approach to the formal environmental assessment of large-scale offshore wind farms around the UK coast which will be required by EU Directives. The legislative background and policy framework are outlined, and key issues to be addressed in the environmental assessment are highlighted. Available information on the manufacture and transportation of wind farm equipment, turbine and cable installation, operation of an offshore wind farm, and wind farm decommissioning is reviewed and recommendations are given. The role of offshore wind power in meeting the UK's commitment to reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases and its targets for generating 10% of the UK's electricity from renewable energy sources is discussed.

  18. Current projects of the National Wind Coordinating Committee

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rhoads, H. [National Wind Coordinating Committee, Washington, DC (United States)

    1997-12-31

    This paper summarizes the activities of the National Wind Coordinating Committee (NWCC), a multi-stakeholder collaborative formed in 1994 to support the responsible use of wind power in the USA. The NWCC`s vision is a self-sustaining commercial market for wind power - environmentally, economically, and politically sustainable. Current NWCC activities include: outreach initiatives, disseminating information about wind energy to regulators and legislators through the Wind Energy Issue Paper Series, researching distributed wind energy models, producing a wind facility permitting handbook, improving avian research, addressing transmission and resource assessment issues, and exploring sustainable development and marketing approaches.

  19. A Joint Evaluation of the Wind and Wave Energy Resources Close to the Greek Islands

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel Ganea

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this work is to analyze the wind and wave energy potential in the proximity of the Greek islands. Thus, by evaluating the synergy between wind and waves, a more comprehensive picture of the renewable energy resources in the target area is provided. In this study, two different data sources are considered. The first data set is provided by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF through the ERA-Interim project and covers an 11-year period, while the second data set is Archiving, Validation and Interpretation of Satellite Oceanographic data (AVISO and covers six years of information. Using these data, parameters such as wind speed, significant wave height (SWH and mean wave period (MWP are analyzed. The following marine areas are targeted: Ionian Sea, Aegean Sea, Sea of Crete, Libyan Sea and Levantine Sea, near the coastal environment of the Greek islands. Initially, 26 reference points were considered. For a more detailed analysis, the number of reference points was narrowed down to 10 that were considered more relevant. Since in the island environments the resources are in general rather limited, the proposed work provides some outcomes concerning the wind and wave energy potential and the synergy between these two natural resources in the vicinity of the Greek islands. From the analysis performed, it can be noticed that the most energetic wind conditions are encountered west of Cios Island, followed by the regions east of Tinos and northeast of Crete. In these locations, the annual average values of the wind power density (Pwind are in the range of 286–298.6 W/m2. Regarding the wave power density (Pwave, the most energetic locations can be found in the vicinity of Crete, north, south and southeast of the island. There, the wave energy potential is in the range of 2.88–2.99 kW/m.

  20. Off-shore Wind Atlas of the Central Aegean Sea: A simple comparison of NCEP/NCAR RE-analysis data, QuickSCAT and ENVISAT Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) by use of Wind Atlas Method

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bingöl, Ferhat; Hasager, Charlotte Bay; Karagali, Ioanna

    2012-01-01

    model results). Unfortunately all of these methods are still under development and do not provide data acceptable for bankable wind assessment reports. On the other hand, they give good indications of the geographical distribution of the wind resources and that is very useful for decision making...... to high costs, but with the new developments in floating turbine design, it seems that offshore wind parks in deep waters will also be a possibility in the future. Whether on-shore or offshore, the first step of a site assessment is to estimate the wind resources. Usually well-known conventional methods...... are used to produce estimates of wind resources by means of at least one year data from a single or multiple points on the terrain. This criterion is dicult to satisfy in offshore locations where measurements are costly and sparse. Therefore other methods are required (e.g satellite imagery or reanalysis...

  1. DOD Offshore Wind Mission Compatibility Assessments

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set represents the results of analyses conducted by the Department of Defense to assess the compatibility of offshore wind development with military assets...

  2. 78 FR 15718 - Iberdrola Renewables, Inc. PacifiCorp NextEra Energy Resources, LLC Invenergy Wind North America...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-03-12

    ... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. EL11-44-006] Iberdrola Renewables, Inc. PacifiCorp NextEra Energy Resources, LLC Invenergy Wind North America LLC Horizon Wind Energy LLC v. Bonneville Power Administration; Notice of Filing Take notice that on March 1, 2013...

  3. Onshore-offshore wind energy resource evaluation based on synergetic use of multiple satellite data and meteorological stations in Jiangsu Province, China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wei, Xianglin; Duan, Yuewei; Liu, Yongxue; Jin, Song; Sun, Chao

    2018-05-01

    The demand for efficient and cost-effective renewable energy is increasing as traditional sources of energy such as oil, coal, and natural gas, can no longer satisfy growing global energy demands. Among renewable energies, wind energy is the most prominent due to its low, manageable impacts on the local environment. Based on meteorological data from 2006 to 2014 and multi-source satellite data (i.e., Advanced Scatterometer, Quick Scatterometer, and Windsat) from 1999 to 2015, an assessment of the onshore and offshore wind energy potential in Jiangsu Province was performed by calculating the average wind speed, average wind direction, wind power density, and annual energy production (AEP). Results show that Jiangsu has abundant wind energy resources, which increase from inland to coastal areas. In onshore areas, wind power density is predominantly less than 200 W/m2, while in offshore areas, wind power density is concentrates in the range of 328-500 W/m2. Onshore areas comprise more than 13,573.24 km2, mainly located in eastern coastal regions with good wind farm potential. The total wind power capacity in onshore areas could be as much as 2.06 x 105 GWh. Meanwhile, offshore wind power generation in Jiangsu Province is calculated to reach 2 x 106 GWh, which is approximately four times the electricity demand of the entire Jiangsu Province. This study validates the effective application of Advanced Scatterometer, Quick Scatterometer, and Windsat data to coastal wind energy monitoring in Jiangsu. Moreover, the methodology used in this study can be effectively applied to other similar coastal zones.

  4. Wind Energy Assessment for Small Urban Communities in the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico

    OpenAIRE

    Quetzalcoatl Hernandez-Escobedo

    2016-01-01

    Mexico needs to exploit its renewable resources and many studies have determined the great renewable potential it has using wind energy. However it is necessary to calculate the amount of this resource for small urban communities, which in this country lack essential services such as electricity. This study is focused in the Baja California Peninsula, using GIS as a tool to identify small urban zones with higher wind power. For this work data was analyzed from meteorological stations and reco...

  5. Final Report DE-EE0005380: Assessment of Offshore Wind Farm Effects on Sea Surface, Subsurface and Airborne Electronic Systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ling, Hao [The University of Texas at Austin; Hamilton, Mark F. [The University of Texas at Austin Applied Research Laboratories; Bhalla, Rajan [Science Applications International Corporation; Brown, Walter E. [The University of Texas at Austin Applied Research Laboratories; Hay, Todd A. [The University of Texas at Austin Applied Research Laboratories; Whitelonis, Nicholas J. [The University of Texas at Austin; Yang, Shang-Te [The University of Texas at Austin; Naqvi, Aale R. [The University of Texas at Austin

    2013-09-30

    Offshore wind energy is a valuable resource that can provide a significant boost to the US renewable energy portfolio. A current constraint to the development of offshore wind farms is the potential for interference to be caused by large wind farms on existing electronic and acoustical equipment such as radar and sonar systems for surveillance, navigation and communications. The US Department of Energy funded this study as an objective assessment of possible interference to various types of equipment operating in the marine environment where offshore wind farms could be installed. The objective of this project was to conduct a baseline evaluation of electromagnetic and acoustical challenges to sea surface, subsurface and airborne electronic systems presented by offshore wind farms. To accomplish this goal, the following tasks were carried out: (1) survey electronic systems that can potentially be impacted by large offshore wind farms, and identify impact assessment studies and research and development activities both within and outside the US, (2) engage key stakeholders to identify their possible concerns and operating requirements, (3) conduct first-principle modeling on the interactions of electromagnetic signals with, and the radiation of underwater acoustic signals from, offshore wind farms to evaluate the effect of such interactions on electronic systems, and (4) provide impact assessments, recommend mitigation methods, prioritize future research directions, and disseminate project findings. This report provides a detailed description of the methodologies used to carry out the study, key findings of the study, and a list of recommendations derived based the findings.

  6. Natural Gas Resources of the Greater Green River and Wind River Basins of Wyoming (Assessing the Technology Needs of Sub-economic Resources, Phase I: Greater Green River and Wind river Basins, Fall 2002)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boswell, Ray; Douds, Ashley; Pratt, Skip; Rose, Kelly; Pancake, Jim; Bruner, Kathy (EG& G Services); Kuuskraa, Vello; Billingsley, Randy (Advanced Resources International)

    2003-02-28

    In 2000, NETL conducted a review of the adequacy of the resource characterization databases used in its Gas Systems Analysis Model (GSAM). This review indicated that the most striking deficiency in GSAM’s databases was the poor representation of the vast resource believed to exist in low-permeability sandstone accumulations in western U.S. basins. The model’s databases, which are built primarily around the United States Geological Survey (USGS) 1995 National Assessment (for undiscovered resources), reflected an estimate of the original-gas-inplace (OGIP) only in accumulations designated “technically-recoverable” by the USGS –roughly 3% to 4% of the total estimated OGIP of the region. As these vast remaining resources are a prime target of NETL programs, NETL immediately launched an effort to upgrade its resource characterizations. Upon review of existing data, NETL concluded that no existing data were appropriate sources for its modeling needs, and a decision was made to conduct new, detailed log-based, gas-in-place assessments.

  7. The role of energy storage in accessing remote wind resources in the Midwest

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lamy, Julian; Azevedo, Inês L.; Jaramillo, Paulina

    2014-01-01

    Replacing current generation with wind energy would help reduce the emissions associated with fossil fuel electricity generation. However, integrating wind into the electricity grid is not without cost. Wind power output is highly variable and average capacity factors from wind farms are often much lower than conventional generators. Further, the best wind resources with highest capacity factors are often located far away from load centers and accessing them therefore requires transmission investments. Energy storage capacity could be an alternative to some of the required transmission investment, thereby reducing capital costs for accessing remote wind farms. This work focuses on the trade-offs between energy storage and transmission. In a case study of a 200 MW wind farm in North Dakota to deliver power to Illinois, we estimate the size of transmission and energy storage capacity that yields the lowest average cost of generating and delivering electricity ($/MW h) from this farm. We find that transmission costs must be at least $600/MW-km and energy storage must cost at most $100/kW h in order for this application of energy storage to be economical. - Highlights: • We evaluate the break-even cost of energy storage to replace transmission. • We focus on a wind farm in North Dakota that must deliver power to Illinois. • Energy storage capital costs must be less than $100/kW h. • Transmission capital costs must be greater than $600/MW-km

  8. Site calibration for the wind turbine performance evaluation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nam, Yoon Su; Yoo, Neung Soo; Lee, Jung Wan

    2004-01-01

    The accurate wind speed information at the hub height of a wind turbine is very essential to the exact estimation of the wind turbine power performance testing. Several method on the site calibration, which is a technique to estimate the wind speed at the wind turbine's hub height based on the measured wind data using a reference meteorological mast, are introduced. A site calibration result and the wind resource assessment for the TaeKwanRyung test site are presented using three-month wind data from a reference meteorological mast and the other mast temporarily installed at the site of wind turbine. Besides, an analysis on the uncertainty allocation for the wind speed correction using site calibration is performed

  9. FEASIBILITY OF WIND TO SERVE UPPER SKAGIT'S BOW HILL TRIBAL LANDS AND FEASIBILITY UPDATE FOR RESIDENTIAL RENEWABLE ENERGY.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    RICH, LAUREN

    2013-09-30

    A two year wind resource assessment was conducted to determine the feasibility of developing a community scale wind generation system for the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe's Bow Hill land base, and the project researched residential wind resource technologies to determine the feasibility of contributing renewable wind resource to the mix of energy options for our single and multi-family residential units.

  10. A Meteorological Information Mining-Based Wind Speed Model for Adequacy Assessment of Power Systems With Wind Power

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Guo, Yifei; Gao, Houlei; Wu, Qiuwei

    2017-01-01

    Accurate wind speed simulation is an essential prerequisite to analyze the power systems with wind power. A wind speed model considering meteorological conditions and seasonal variations is proposed in this paper. Firstly, using the path analysis method, the influence weights of meteorological...... systems with wind power. The assessment results of the modified IEEE-RTS79 and IEEE-RTS96 demonstrated the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed model....

  11. Endurance Wind Power : practical insights into small wind

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hicks, D.

    2008-01-01

    This presentation discussed practical issues related to purchasing and installing small wind turbines in Canada. Wind power capacity can be estimated by looking at provincial wind maps as well as by seeking wind data at local airports. Wind resources are typically measured at heights of between 20 meters and 50 m. The height of a wind turbine tower can significantly increase the turbine's wind generating capacity. Turbine rotors should always be placed 30 feet higher than obstacles within 500 feet. Many provinces have now mandated utilities to accept renewable energy resources from grid-connected wind energy plants. Net billing systems are used to determine the billing relationship between power-producing consumers and the utilities who will buy the excess power and sell it to other consumers. Utilities are not yet mandated to purchase excess power, and it is likely that federal and provincial legislation will be needed to ensure that net billing systems continue to grow. Many Canadian municipalities have no ordinances related to wind turbine placements. Consumers interested in purchasing small wind turbines should ensure that the turbine has been certified by an accredited test facility and has an adequate safety system. The noise of the turbine as well as its power performance in relation to the purchaser's needs must also be considered. It was concluded that small wind turbines can provide a means for electricity consumers to reduce their carbon footprint and hedge against the inflationary costs of fossil-fuelled energy resources. tabs., figs

  12. Preliminary study of long-term wind characteristics of the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soler-Bientz, Rolando; Watson, Simon; Infield, David

    2009-01-01

    Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula is one of the most promising areas for wind energy development within the Latin American region but no comprehensive assessment of wind resource has been previously published. This research presents a preliminary analysis of the meteorological parameters relevant to the wind resource in order to find patterns in their long-term behaviour and to establish a foundation for subsequent research into the wind power potential of the Yucatan Peninsula. Three meteorological stations with data measured for a period between 10 and 20 years were used in this study. The monthly trends of ambient temperature, atmospheric pressure and wind speed data were identified and are discussed. The directional behaviour of the winds, their frequency distributions and the related Weibull parameters are presented. Wind power densities for the study sites have been estimated and have been shown to be relatively low (wind power class 1), though a larger number of suitable sites needs to be studied before a definitive resource evaluation can be reported.

  13. Towards a generalization procedure for WRF mesoscale wind climatologies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hahmann, Andrea N.; Casso, P.; Campmany, E.

    We present a method for generalizing wind climatologies generated from mesoscale model output (e.g. the Weather, Research and Forecasting (WRF) model.) The generalization procedure is based on Wind Atlas framework of WAsP and KAMM/WAsP, and been extensively in wind resources assessment in DTU Wind...... generalized wind climatologies estimated by the microscale model WAsP and the methodology presented here. For the Danish wind measurements the mean absolute error in the ‘raw’ wind speeds is 9.2%, while the mean absolute error in the generalized wind speeds is 4.1%. The generalization procedure has been...

  14. Anholt offshore wind farm winds investigated from satellite images

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hasager, Charlotte Bay; Badger, Merete; Volker, Patrick

    , i.e. before the wind farm was constructed. Based on these data the wind resource is estimated. Concurrent Sentinel-1 SAR data and available SCADA and lidar data, kindly provided by DONG Energy and partners, for the period January 2013 to June 2015 account for ~70 images, while ~300 images...... are available for Sentinel-1 from July 2015 to February 2017. The Sentinel-1 wind maps are investigated for wind farm wake effects. Furthermore the results on wind resources and wakes are compared to the SCADA and model results from WRF, Park, Fuga and RANS models....

  15. Potential market of wind farm in China

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pengfei Shi [Hydropower Planning General Inst., Beijing (China)

    1996-12-31

    Wind energy resources are abundant in China, in southeast coast area along with the rapid economic growth, electricity demand has been sharply increased, due to complex terrain detailed assessments are in urgent need. Advanced methodology and computer model should be developed. In this paper the existing wind farms, installed capacity, manufacturers share and projects in the near future are presented. For further development of wind farm in large scale, different ways of local manufacturing wind turbine generators (WTG) are going on. Current policy and barriers are analyzed. 4 refs., 2 figs., 4 tabs.

  16. Wind resource assessment in Europe using emergy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Paudel, S.; Santarelli, M.; Martin, V.; Lacarriere, B.; Corre, le O.

    2014-01-01

    In context of increasing use of renewable sources, it is of importance to correctly evaluate the actual sustainability of their implementation. Emergy analysis is one of the possible methods useful for such an assessment. This work aims to demonstrate how the emergy approach can be used to assess

  17. An Integrated Assessment Framework of Offshore Wind Power Projects Applying Equator Principles and Social Life Cycle Assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu-Che Tseng

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper reviews offshore wind power project finance and provides an integrated assessment that employs Equator Principles, life cycle assessment, risk assessment, materiality analysis, credit assessment, and ISAE 3000 assurance. We have not seen any comprehensive review papers or book chapters that covers the entire offshore wind power project finance process. We also conducted an SWancor Formosa Phase 1 case study to illustrate the application of integrated assessment to better assist policymakers, wind farm developers, practitioners, potential investors and observers, and stakeholders in their decisions. We believe that this paper can form part of the effort to reduce information asymmetry and the transaction costs of wind power project finance, as well as mobilize green finance investments from the financial sector to renewable energy projects to achieve a national renewable energy policy.

  18. Method for assessing wind power integration in a hydro based power system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Norheim, I.; Palsson, M.; Tande, J.O.G.; Uhlen, K.

    2006-01-01

    The present paper demonstrates a method for assessment of how much wind power that can be integrated in a system with limited transmission capacity. Based on hydro inflow data and wind measurements (for different locations of planned wind farms in an area) it is possible to assess how much wind power that can be fed into a certain point in the transmission network without violating the transmission capacity limits. The proposed method combines the use of market modelling and detailed network analysis in order to assess the probability of network congestions rather than focusing on extreme cases. By computing the probability distribution of power flow on critical corridors in the grid it is possible to assess the likelihood of network congestions and the amount of energy that must be curtailed to fulfil power system security requirements (n-1). This way the assessment is not only made of worst case scenarios, assuming maximal flow from hydro plants and maximal wind power production. As extreme case scenarios are short term and may be solved by market mechanisms or automatic system protection schemes (disconnection of wind power or hydro power), the proposed method may reveal that it would be economic to install more wind power than if only based on analysis of worst case scenarios. (orig.)

  19. New criteria for assessing low wind environment at pedestrian level in Hong Kong

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Du, Yaxing; Mak, Cheuk Ming; Kwok, Kenny

    2017-01-01

    The choice of proper wind comfort criterion is considered to be crucial to reliable assessment of pedestrian level wind comfort. This paper aims to propose a wind comfort criterion that can be applied to Hong Kong, in which the wind comfort is seriously deteriorated by the moderated airflow, part...... represent the weak wind condition and provide suitable assessments of the wind comfort in Hong Kong. Moreover, the findings in this study provide scientific basis for future policy-making and the proposed criteria can also help city planners to improve the pedestrian level wind comfort....

  20. Atmospheric stability and topography effects on wind turbine performance and wake properties in complex terrain

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Han, Xingxing; Liu, Deyou; Xu, Chang

    2018-01-01

    This paper evaluates the influence of atmospheric stability and topography on wind turbine performance and wake properties in complex terrain. To assess atmospheric stability effects on wind turbine performance, an equivalent wind speed calculated with the power output and the manufacture power...... and topography have significant influences on wind turbine performance and wake properties. Considering effects of atmospheric stability and topography will benefit the wind resource assessment in complex terrain....

  1. Wind energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1992-01-01

    This chapter discusses the role wind energy may have in the energy future of the US. The topics discussed in the chapter include historical aspects of wind energy use, the wind energy resource, wind energy technology including intermediate-size and small wind turbines and intermittency of wind power, public attitudes toward wind power, and environmental, siting and land use issues

  2. Resource Assessment for Hydrogen Production: Hydrogen Production Potential from Fossil and Renewable Energy Resources

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Melaina, M. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Penev, M. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Heimiller, D. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2013-09-01

    This study examines the energy resources required to produce 4-10 million metric tonnes of domestic, low-carbon hydrogen in order to fuel approximately 20-50 million fuel cell electric vehicles. These projected energy resource requirements are compared to current consumption levels, projected 2040 business as usual consumptions levels, and projected 2040 consumption levels within a carbonconstrained future for the following energy resources: coal (assuming carbon capture and storage), natural gas, nuclear (uranium), biomass, wind (on- and offshore), and solar (photovoltaics and concentrating solar power). The analysis framework builds upon previous analysis results estimating hydrogen production potentials and drawing comparisons with economy-wide resource production projections

  3. NATURAL RESOURCES ASSESSMENT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    D.F. Fenster

    2000-01-01

    The purpose of this report is to summarize the scientific work that was performed to evaluate and assess the occurrence and economic potential of natural resources within the geologic setting of the Yucca Mountain area. The extent of the regional areas of investigation for each commodity differs and those areas are described in more detail in the major subsections of this report. Natural resource assessments have focused on an area defined as the ''conceptual controlled area'' because of the requirements contained in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Regulation, 10 CFR Part 60, to define long-term boundaries for potential radionuclide releases. New requirements (proposed 10 CFR Part 63 [Dyer 1999]) have obviated the need for defining such an area. However, for the purposes of this report, the area being discussed, in most cases, is the previously defined ''conceptual controlled area'', now renamed the ''natural resources site study area'' for this report (shown on Figure 1). Resource potential can be difficult to assess because it is dependent upon many factors, including economics (demand, supply, cost), the potential discovery of new uses for resources, or the potential discovery of synthetics to replace natural resource use. The evaluations summarized are based on present-day use and economic potential of the resources. The objective of this report is to summarize the existing reports and information for the Yucca Mountain area on: (1) Metallic mineral and mined energy resources (such as gold, silver, etc., including uranium); (2) Industrial rocks and minerals (such as sand, gravel, building stone, etc.); (3) Hydrocarbons (including oil, natural gas, tar sands, oil shales, and coal); and (4) Geothermal resources. Groundwater is present at the Yucca Mountain site at depths ranging from 500 to 750 m (about 1,600 to 2,500 ft) below the ground surface. Groundwater resources are not discussed in this report, but are planned to be included in the hydrology

  4. Determining the impact of wind on system costs via the temporal patterns of load and wind generation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Davis, Clay D.; Gotham, Douglas J.; Preckel, Paul V.; Liu, Andrew L.

    2013-01-01

    Ambitious targets have been set for expanding electricity generation from renewable sources, including wind. Expanding wind power impacts needs for other electricity generating resources. As states plan for increasing levels of wind generation in their portfolio of generation resources it is important to consider how this intermittent resource impacts the need for other generation resources. A case study for Indiana estimates the value of wind capacity and demonstrates how to optimize its level and the levels of other generation resources. Changes are driven by temporal patterns of wind power output and load. System wide impacts are calculated for energy, capacity, and costs under multiple wind expansion scenarios which highlight the geographic characteristics of a systems portfolio of wind generation. The impacts of carbon prices, as proposed in the Bingaman Bill, are considered. Finally, calculations showing the effect increasing levels of wind generation will have on end use Indiana retail rates are included. - Highlights: • We estimate the value of wind capacity. • We determine wind generation's impact on the optimal mix of non-wind generation. • Optimal levels of wind and non-wind generation are determined. • We consider the impact of a carbon price on the optimal mix of resources. • The impact of additional wind capacity on Indiana residential rates is calculated

  5. The Current Situation of Wind Energy in Turkey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raşit Ata

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Wind energy applications and turbine installations at different scales have increased since the beginning of this century. As wind energy is an alternative clean energy source compared to the fossil fuels that pollute the atmosphere, systems that convert wind energy to electricity have developed rapidly. Turkey’s domestic fossil fuel resources are extremely limited. In addition, Turkey’s geographical location has several advantages for extensive use of wind power. In this context, renewable energy resources appear to be one of the most efficient and effective solutions for sustainable energy development and environmental pollution prevention in Turkey. Among the renewable sources, Turkey has very high wind energy potential. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD Turkey theoretically has 166 TWh a year of wind potential. However the installed wind power capacity is approximately 14% of total economical wind potential. In this study, Turkey’s installed electric power capacity and electric energy production are investigated and also the current situation of wind energy in Turkey is examined. The wind data used in this study were taken from Turkish Wind Energy Association (TUREB for the year 2012. This paper reviews the assessment of wind energy in Turkey as of the end of July 2012 including wind energy applications.

  6. Offshore wind energy potential in China

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hong, Lixuan; Möller, Bernd

    2011-01-01

    and economic costs. However, the influence of tropical cyclone risks on these regions and detailed assessments at regional or local scale are worth of further discussions. Nevertheless, the models and results provide a foundation for a more comprehensive regional planning framework that would address......This paper investigates available offshore wind energy resources in China’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) with the aid of a Geographical Information System (GIS), which allows the influence of technical, spatial and economic constraints on offshore wind resources being reflected in a continuous...... space. Geospatial supply curves and spatial distribution of levelised production cost (LPC) are developed, which provide information on the available potential of offshore wind energy at or below a given cost, and its corresponding geographical locations. The GIS-based models also reflect the impacts...

  7. Water resources assessment and prediction in China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    W. Guangsheng

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Water resources assessment in China, can be classified into three groups: (i comprehensive water resources assessment, (ii annual water resources assessment, and (iii industrial project water resources assessment. Comprehensive water resources assessment is the conventional assessment where the frequency distribution of water resources in basins or provincial regions are analyzed. For the annual water resources assessment, water resources of the last year in basins or provincial regions are usually assessed. For the industrial project water resources assessment, the water resources situation before the construction of industrial project has to be assessed. To address the climate and environmental changes, hydrological and statistical models are widely applied for studies on assessing water resources changes. For the water resources prediction in China usually the monthly runoff prediction is used. In most low flow seasons, the flow recession curve is commonly used as prediction method. In the humid regions, the rainfall-runoff ensemble prediction (ESP has been widely applied for the monthly runoff prediction. The conditional probability method for the monthly runoff prediction was also applied to assess next month runoff probability under a fixed initial condition.

  8. Wind energy assessment for the coastal part of Bangladesh

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khadem, S.K.; Ghosh, H.R.; Kaiser, S.; Aditya, S.K.; Hussain, M.

    2005-01-01

    Earlier measurement and study of wind speed for the coastal part of Bangladesh showed that some of the areas of this part would be useful for wind power generation. But till now no measurement at the hub height of wind machine has yet done. Data has been collected from different sources and analysis has been done using logarithmic law and micro scale modeling software, WAsP for wind energy assessment over the coastal part. It has been found that the speed varies from 4m/s to 5.7 m/s at a height of 50m above ground level depending on the land type. Wind power density varies from 100 to 250 w/m/sub 2/ indicate the wind power can play an important role in the energy sector. (author)

  9. Landscape impact assessment of wind farm development in Dyfed

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blandford, C.; White, S.; Garrad, A.D.; Morgan, C.A.

    1992-01-01

    Chris Blandford Associates, in association with Garrad Hassan and Partners, was commissioned to carry out a landscape impact assessment of wind turbine development in Dyfed. The study aims to identify those areas in Dyfed where, in terms of landscape impact, local authorities might seek either to exclude or encourage wind turbine development; provide guidelines to assist local authorities in judging the impact of wind turbine developments on the landscape; provide a basis and framework for the preparation of planning policy guidelines for acceptable wind turbine and wind farm developments in Dyfed. The study context reviews current Government energy and planning policies for the encouragement of wind turbine developments, as set out in the ''non-fossil fuel obligation'' and the draft planning policy guidance note for renewable energy published last December. (author)

  10. Wind Energy Potential and Power Law Indexes Assessment for Selected Near-Coastal Sites in Malaysia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aliashim Albani

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigated the wind energy potential by analysing a certain amount of gathered 10-min measured data at four stations located at coastal sites in Malaysia, i.e., Kudat, Mersing, Kijal, and Langkawi. The wind data are collected from a total of four new wind measurement masts with sensors mounted at various heights on the tower. The measured data have enabled the establishment of wind resource maps and the power law indexes (PLIs analysis. In addition, the dependence of PLI upon surface temperature and terrain types is studied, as they are associated to the form of exponential fits. Moreover, the accuracy of exponential fits is assessed by comparing the results with the 1/7 law via the capacity factor (CF discrepancies. In order to do so, the wind turbine with a hub-height similar to the maximum height of the measured data at each site is selected to simulate energy production. Accordingly, the discrepancy of CF based on the extrapolated data by employing 1/7 laws and exponential fits, in spite of being computed using measured data, is determined as well. Furthermore, the large discrepancy of the wind data and the CF, which has been determined with the application of 1/7, is compared to the exponential fits. This is because; discrepancy in estimation of vertical wind speed could lead to inaccurate CF computation. Meanwhile, from the energy potential analysis based on the computed CF, only Kudat and Mersing display a promising potential to develop a medium capacity of wind turbine power, while the other sites may be suitable for wind turbines at a small scale.

  11. A National Research Council Evaluation of the Department of Energy's Marine and Hydrokinetic Resource Assessments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glickson, D.; Holmes, K. J.; Cooke, D.

    2012-12-01

    Marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) resources are increasingly becoming part of energy regulatory, planning, and marketing activities in the U.S. and elsewhere. In particular, state-based renewable portfolio standards and federal production and investment tax credits have led to an increased interest in the possible deployment of MHK technologies. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-58) directed the Department of Energy (DOE) to estimate the size of the MHK resource base. In order to help DOE prioritize its overall portfolio of future research, increase the understanding of the potential for MHK resource development, and direct MHK device and/or project developers to locations of greatest promise, the DOE Wind and Water Power Program requested that the National Research Council (NRC) provide an evaluation of the detailed assessments being conducted by five individual resource assessment groups. These resource assessment groups were contracted to estimate the amount of extractable energy from wave, tidal, ocean current, ocean thermal energy conversion, and riverine resources. Performing these assessments requires that each resource assessment group estimate the average power density of the resource base, as well as the basic technology characteristics and spatial and temporal constituents that convert power into electricity for that resource. The NRC committee evaluated the methodologies, technologies, and assumptions associated with each of these resource assessments. The committee developed a conceptual framework for delineating the processes used to develop the assessment results requested by the DOE, with definitions of the theoretical, technical, and practical resource to clarify elements of the overall resource assessment process. This allowed the NRC committee to make a comparison of different methods, terminology, and processes among the five resource assessment groups. The committee concluded that the overall approach taken by the wave resource and

  12. Maintaining the Uranium Resources Assessment Data System and assessing the 1990 US uranium potential resources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McCammon, R.B.; Finch, W.I.; Grundy, W.D.; Pierson, C.T.

    1991-01-01

    The Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Uranium Resource Assessment Data System contains information on potential resources (undiscovered) of uranium in the United States. The purpose of this report is: (1) to describe the work carried out to maintain and update the Uranium Resource Assessment Data (URAD) System, (2) to assess the 1990 US uranium potential resources in various cost categories, and (3) to identify problems and to recommend changes that are needed to improve the URAD System. 13 refs., 5 figs., 4 tabs

  13. Renewable energy resource and technology assessment: Southern Tier Central Region, New York, New York. Renewable Energy Resource Inventory; renewable energy technology handbook; technology assessment workbook

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1978-12-01

    The Renewable Energy Resource Inventory contains regional maps that record the location of renewable energy resources such as insolation, wind, biomass, and hydropower in the Southern Tier Central Region of New York State. It contains an outline of a process by which communities can prepare local renewable energy resource inventories using maps and overlays. The process starts with the mapping of the resources at a regional scale and telescopes to an analysis of resources at a site-specific scale. The resource inventory presents a site analysis of Sullivan Street Industrial Park, Elmira, New York.

  14. Satellite information for wind energy applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nielsen, M.; Astrup, P.; Bay Hasager, C.

    2004-11-01

    An introduction to satellite information relevant for wind energy applications is given. It includes digital elevation model (DEM) data based on satellite observations. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) is useful for regional scale wind resource studies. Comparison results from complex terrain in Spain and flat terrain in Denmark are found to be acceptable for both sites. Also land cover type information can be retrieved from satellite observations. Land cover type maps have to be combined with roughness data from field observation or literature values. Land cover type maps constitute an aid to map larger regions within shorter time. Field site observations of obstacles and hedges are still necessary. The raster-based map information from DEM and land cover maps can be converted for use in WASP. For offshore locations it is possible to estimate the wind resources based on ocean surface wind data from several types of satellite observations. The RWT software allows an optimal calculation of SAR wind resource statistics. A tab-file with SAR-based observed wind climate (OWC) data can be obtained for 10 m above sea level and used in WASP. RWT uses a footprint averaging technique to obtain data as similar as possible to mast observations. Maximum-likelihood fitting is used to calculate the Weibull A and k parameters from the constrained data set. Satellite SAR wind maps cover the coastal zone from 3 km and offshore with very detailed information of 400 m by 400 m grid resolution. Spatial trends in mean wind, energy density, Weibull A and k and uncertainty values are provided for the area of interest. Satellite scatterometer wind observations have a spatial resolution of 25 km by 25 km. These data typically represent a site further offshore, and the tab-file statistics should be used in WASP combined with topography and roughness information to assess the coastal wind power potential. Scatterometer wind data are observed {approx} twice per day, whereas SAR only

  15. Wind resource and plant output data sets for wind integration studies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Frank, Jaclyn D.; Manobianco, John; Alonge, Charles J.; Brower, Michael C. [AWS Truepower, Albany, NY (United States)

    2010-07-01

    One of the first step towards understanding the impact of increasing penetrations of wind is developing data sets of wind power output over large regions. To facilitate the development of these data sets, AWS Truepower (AWST) generated wind speeds over multiple years (2-3) using the Mesoscale Atmospheric Simulation System (MASS). These simulations were performed with high spatial resolution (1-2 km) to capture the wind flows over each area of interest. Output was saved in 10-minute interval to capture variations in wind speed so that plant output could be analyzed against utility load and system operations. This paper will describe the methodology of mesoscale modeling, site selection, conversion to power, and downscaling to high frequency output. Additionally, the generation of synthetic forecasts will be discussed. The validation results from recent studies in the eastern United States and Hawaii will be highlighted. (orig.)

  16. Assessing Upper-Level Winds on Day-of-Launch

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bauman, William H., III; Wheeler, Mark M.

    2012-01-01

    On the day-or-launch. the 45th Weather Squadron Launch Weather Officers (LWOS) monitor the upper-level winds for their launch customers to include NASA's Launch Services Program (LSP). During launch operations, the payload launch team sometimes asks the LWO if they expect the upper level winds to change during the countdown but the LWOs did not have the capability to quickly retrieve or display the upper-level observations and compare them to the numerical weather prediction model point forecasts. The LWOs requested the Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) develop a capability in the form of a graphical user interface (GUI) that would allow them to plot upper-level wind speed and direction observations from the Kennedy Space Center Doppler Radar Wind Profilers and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station rawinsondes and then overlay model point forecast profiles on the observation profiles to assess the performance of these models and graphically display them to the launch team. The AMU developed an Excel-based capability for the LWOs to assess the model forecast upper-level winds and compare them to observations. They did so by creating a GUI in Excel that allows the LWOs to first initialize the models by comparing the O-hour model forecasts to the observations and then to display model forecasts in 3-hour intervals from the current time through 12 hours.

  17. Generation and Validation of Spatial Distribution of Hourly Wind Speed Time-Series using Machine Learning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Veronesi, F; Grassi, S

    2016-01-01

    Wind resource assessment is a key aspect of wind farm planning since it allows to estimate the long term electricity production. Moreover, wind speed time-series at high resolution are helpful to estimate the temporal changes of the electricity generation and indispensable to design stand-alone systems, which are affected by the mismatch of supply and demand. In this work, we present a new generalized statistical methodology to generate the spatial distribution of wind speed time-series, using Switzerland as a case study. This research is based upon a machine learning model and demonstrates that statistical wind resource assessment can successfully be used for estimating wind speed time-series. In fact, this method is able to obtain reliable wind speed estimates and propagate all the sources of uncertainty (from the measurements to the mapping process) in an efficient way, i.e. minimizing computational time and load. This allows not only an accurate estimation, but the creation of precise confidence intervals to map the stochasticity of the wind resource for a particular site. The validation shows that machine learning can minimize the bias of the wind speed hourly estimates. Moreover, for each mapped location this method delivers not only the mean wind speed, but also its confidence interval, which are crucial data for planners. (paper)

  18. Generation and Validation of Spatial Distribution of Hourly Wind Speed Time-Series using Machine Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veronesi, F.; Grassi, S.

    2016-09-01

    Wind resource assessment is a key aspect of wind farm planning since it allows to estimate the long term electricity production. Moreover, wind speed time-series at high resolution are helpful to estimate the temporal changes of the electricity generation and indispensable to design stand-alone systems, which are affected by the mismatch of supply and demand. In this work, we present a new generalized statistical methodology to generate the spatial distribution of wind speed time-series, using Switzerland as a case study. This research is based upon a machine learning model and demonstrates that statistical wind resource assessment can successfully be used for estimating wind speed time-series. In fact, this method is able to obtain reliable wind speed estimates and propagate all the sources of uncertainty (from the measurements to the mapping process) in an efficient way, i.e. minimizing computational time and load. This allows not only an accurate estimation, but the creation of precise confidence intervals to map the stochasticity of the wind resource for a particular site. The validation shows that machine learning can minimize the bias of the wind speed hourly estimates. Moreover, for each mapped location this method delivers not only the mean wind speed, but also its confidence interval, which are crucial data for planners.

  19. Assessing the Impact of the Tunø Knob Wind Park on Sea Ducks : the Influence of Food Resources

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Guillemette, M.; Larsen, J. K.; Clausager, I.

    Abstract This study deals with the influence of benthos abundance when assessing the potential impact of a small wind park on wintering sea ducks. Using the Before-After-Control-Impact design, it was suggested in a recent study (Guillemette et al. 1998) that the wind park provoked a decline...... at Tunø Knob to test the hypothesis that, if food abundance increases again, we should also observe an increase in duck abundance. The methods used in this study are similar to those applied in the aforementioned study. The results showed that the average number of common eiders increased considerably...... in the abundance and a change in the distribution of common eiders Somateria mollissima and common scoters Melanitta nigra. However, the observed decline in sea duck abundance occurred con-comitantly with a decline of benthic food supplies. We measured con-comitant food and common eider abundance for a fourth year...

  20. NATURAL RESOURCES ASSESSMENT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    D.F. Fenster

    2000-12-11

    The purpose of this report is to summarize the scientific work that was performed to evaluate and assess the occurrence and economic potential of natural resources within the geologic setting of the Yucca Mountain area. The extent of the regional areas of investigation for each commodity differs and those areas are described in more detail in the major subsections of this report. Natural resource assessments have focused on an area defined as the ''conceptual controlled area'' because of the requirements contained in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Regulation, 10 CFR Part 60, to define long-term boundaries for potential radionuclide releases. New requirements (proposed 10 CFR Part 63 [Dyer 1999]) have obviated the need for defining such an area. However, for the purposes of this report, the area being discussed, in most cases, is the previously defined ''conceptual controlled area'', now renamed the ''natural resources site study area'' for this report (shown on Figure 1). Resource potential can be difficult to assess because it is dependent upon many factors, including economics (demand, supply, cost), the potential discovery of new uses for resources, or the potential discovery of synthetics to replace natural resource use. The evaluations summarized are based on present-day use and economic potential of the resources. The objective of this report is to summarize the existing reports and information for the Yucca Mountain area on: (1) Metallic mineral and mined energy resources (such as gold, silver, etc., including uranium); (2) Industrial rocks and minerals (such as sand, gravel, building stone, etc.); (3) Hydrocarbons (including oil, natural gas, tar sands, oil shales, and coal); and (4) Geothermal resources. Groundwater is present at the Yucca Mountain site at depths ranging from 500 to 750 m (about 1,600 to 2,500 ft) below the ground surface. Groundwater resources are not discussed in this

  1. Jet stream wind power as a renewable energy resource: little power, big impacts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. M. Miller

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available Jet streams are regions of sustained high wind speeds in the upper atmosphere and are seen by some as a substantial renewable energy resource. However, jet streams are nearly geostrophic flow, that is, they result from the balance between the pressure gradient and Coriolis force in the near absence of friction. Therefore, jet stream motion is associated with very small generation rates of kinetic energy to maintain the high wind velocities, and it is this generation rate that will ultimately limit the potential use of jet streams as a renewable energy resource. Here we estimate the maximum limit of jet stream wind power by considering extraction of kinetic energy as a term in the free energy balance of kinetic energy that describes the generation, depletion, and extraction of kinetic energy. We use this balance as the basis to quantify the maximum limit of how much kinetic energy can be extracted sustainably from the jet streams of the global atmosphere as well as the potential climatic impacts of its use. We first use a simple thought experiment of geostrophic flow to demonstrate why the high wind velocities of the jet streams are not associated with a high potential for renewable energy generation. We then use an atmospheric general circulation model to estimate that the maximum sustainable extraction from jet streams of the global atmosphere is about 7.5 TW. This estimate is about 200-times less than previous estimates and is due to the fact that the common expression for instantaneous wind power 12 ρv3 merely characterizes the transport of kinetic energy by the flow, but not the generation rate of kinetic energy. We also find that when maximum wind power is extracted from the jet streams, it results in significant

  2. Understanding wind power technology theory, deployment and optimisation

    CERN Document Server

    Schaffarczyk, Alois

    2014-01-01

    Wind energy technology has progressed enormously over the last decade. In coming years it will continue to develop in terms of power ratings, performance and installed capacity of large wind turbines worldwide, with exciting developments in offshore installations. Designed to meet the training needs of wind engineers, this introductory text puts wind energy in context, from the natural resource to the assessment of cost effectiveness and bridges the gap between theory and practice. The thorough coverage spans the scientific basics, practical implementations and the modern state of technology

  3. FY 1998 Report on development of large-scale wind power generation systems. Feasibility study on development of new technologies for wind power generation, and study on local wind resource prediction model; 1998 nendo ogata furyoku hatsuden system kaihatsu seika hokokusho. Furyoku hatsuden shingijutsu kaihatsu kanosei chosa (kyokusho fukyo yosoku shuho ni kansuru chosa)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1999-03-01

    Described herein are the FY 1998 results of the study on local wind resource prediction model. The local wind resource prediction models developed so far apply the solutions based on the existing linear models (WASP and AVENU) for relatively flat terrain. These models are studied for their applicability limits. The study covers wind direction and speed patterns of the surface wind and upper winds at 3 sites in Hokkaido, Fukushima Pref. and Shizuoka Pref. The surface winds are found to be correlated with the upper winds both for wind direction and wind speed in almost all cases. Next, wind resources simulations are carried out for each of the classified weather patterns using the existing models, and the prediction errors are studied. The results show that the prediction accuracy of the existing linear models is highly dependent on inputs of observed data, and that the accuracy tends to decrease for the situations where the upper and surface wind conditions greatly differ from each other, as in the case of a land and sea breeze of thermal origin. It is also confirmed that prediction accuracy is lower on complex terrain than on flat terrain. (NEDO)

  4. Wind vision 2025 : a realistic goal for Quebec

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lafrance, G.; Nolet, J.F.; Cote, G.

    2010-01-01

    The province of Quebec aims to have 4000 MW of wind energy interconnected to the electricity grid by 2015, and hopes to have 12,000 MW by 2025. This PowerPoint presentation explored some of the technical issues that may challenge the province's wind energy goals. The last decade has seen Quebec dominated by a tight supply and demand electricity market and a wholesale market dominated by short term contracts. Quebec aims to create surplus energy for exportation as well as to have 10 percent of the Hydro-Quebec power system supplied by wind resources. Electricity demand is expected to increase over the next decade. Quebec's wind resource development represents an alternative strategy to the development of hydro-electric resources. Strategic planning is needed to develop Quebec's integration potential. However, high standards are needed to ensure the reliability of the province's large electricity system, which is vulnerable to extreme weather events and technical failures. Various power contracts and agreements are being explored by Hydro-Quebec in order to supply power reliably during peak periods. Details of studies conducted to assess Quebec's wind power potential in relation to the electricity system were discussed, and the impact of wind power on the system was evaluated. refs., tabs., figs.

  5. Wind power planning: assessing long-term costs and benefits

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kennedy, Scott

    2005-01-01

    In the following paper, a new and straightforward technique for estimating the social benefit of large-scale wind power production is presented. The social benefit is based upon wind power's energy and capacity services and the avoidance of environmental damages. The approach uses probabilistic load duration curves to account for the stochastic interaction between wind power availability, electricity demand, and conventional generator dispatch. The model is applied to potential offshore wind power development to the south of Long Island, NY. If natural gas combined cycle and integrated gasifier combined cycle (IGCC) are the alternative generation sources, wind power exhibits a negative social benefit due to its high capacity cost and the relatively low emissions of these advanced fossil-fuel technologies. Environmental benefits increase significantly if charges for CO 2 emissions are included. Results also reveal a diminishing social benefit as wind power penetration increases. The dependence of wind power benefits on CO 2 charges, and capital costs for wind turbines and IGCC plant is also discussed. The methodology is intended for use by energy planners in assessing the social benefit of future investments in wind power

  6. A regional-scale assessment of local renewable energy resources in Cumbria, UK

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gormally, A.M.; Whyatt, J.D.; Timmis, R.J.; Pooley, C.G.

    2012-01-01

    There is increasing focus on the role small-scale decentralised renewable energy developments could play in helping the UK meet its target of over 15% renewable energy by the year 2020 and alter energy behaviours through active community engagement. Upland areas are considered key areas where such community-based developments could occur due to their natural resources and range of community scales. This study uses GIS-based techniques to develop a methodology that assesses the regional-scale potential for community-based renewable electricity across Cumbria and whether a combination of these developments at the community-scale could make a significant contribution to local electricity consumption. This methodology looks at a range of technologies including hydro-power, wind-power, solar PV and bioenergy. The results suggest there is ample resource available for small communities by combining a mix of localised renewable electricity developments, which is highlighted through energy scenarios for a selected community. Further work will investigate whether this potential can be realised in reality by looking at resource resilience and community-level acceptability. - Highlights: ► A mix of wind, solar, bioenergy and hydro-power options are presented for Cumbria, UK. ► High resolution spatial analysis is conducted focussing on localised developments. ► Locations with sufficient renewable electricity potential were identified. ► Renewable options are explored further through a town case study. ► Scenarios consider different scales, mixes and contributions to local energy demand.

  7. Wind: new wind markets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cameron, A.

    2005-01-01

    The June 2005 edition of 'Wind Force 12' suggests that wind could generate 12% of global electricity requirements by 2020. But what moves a potential market into an emerging one? Geographical factors include a good wind resource, plenty of open space and the ability to get the generated electricity to end-users. A country's political framework is equally important, with fixed price systems, renewable quota systems and political will all playing a part. Some potential wind markets around the world are thought to have the conditions necessary to become key players in the wind industry. The emerging markets in countries such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Japan and the Philippines are highlighted as examples

  8. Wind Energy Assessment for Small Urban Communities in the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Quetzalcoatl Hernandez-Escobedo

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Mexico needs to exploit its renewable resources and many studies have determined the great renewable potential it has using wind energy. However it is necessary to calculate the amount of this resource for small urban communities, which in this country lack essential services such as electricity. This study is focused in the Baja California Peninsula, using GIS as a tool to identify small urban zones with higher wind power. For this work data was analyzed from meteorological stations and recorded every 10 min for two years (2012–2014. Weibull distribution, linear regression, kriging interpolation, power and energy output and useful hours were calculated for each station. It was found that the total energy generated is 38,603,666 kWh per year and the mean of useful hours is 5220 h per year for the whole Peninsula. Maps of Wind Power Density (WPD show a good power per square meter, GIS shows the areas with the most wind power where it can be used i.e., the state of Baja California wind power can generate electricity for 12% of those communities, meanwhile for Baja California Sur, the electric power generation could electrify almost 25% of the total of small urban communities.

  9. Global mineral resource assessment: porphyry copper assessment of Mexico: Chapter A in Global mineral resource assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hammarstrom, Jane M.; Robinson, Gilpin R.; Ludington, Steve; Gray, Floyd; Drenth, Benjamin J.; Cendejas-Cruz, Francisco; Espinosa, Enrique; Pérez-Segura, Efrén; Valencia-Moreno, Martín; Rodríguez-Castañeda, José Luis; Vásquez-Mendoza, Rigobert; Zürcher, Lukas

    2010-01-01

    Mineral resource assessments provide a synthesis of available information about distributions of mineral deposits in the Earth’s crust. A probabilistic mineral resource assessment of undiscovered resources in porphyry copper deposits in Mexico was done as part of a global mineral resource assessment. The purpose of the study was to (1) delineate permissive areas (tracts) for undiscovered porphyry copper deposits within 1 km of the surface at a scale of 1:1,000,000; (2) provide a database of known porphyry copper deposits and significant prospects; (3) estimate numbers of undiscovered deposits within those permissive tracts; and (4) provide probabilistic estimates of amounts of copper (Cu), molybdenum (Mo), gold (Au), and silver (Ag) that could be contained in undiscovered deposits for each permissive tract. The assessment was conducted using a three-part form of mineral resource assessment based on mineral deposit models (Singer, 1993). Delineation of permissive tracts primarily was based on distributions of mapped igneous rocks related to magmatic arcs that formed in tectonic settings associated with subduction boundary zones. Using a GIS, map units were selected from digital geologic maps based on lithology and age to delineate twelve permissive tracts associated with Jurassic, Laramide (~90 to 34 Ma), and younger Tertiary magmatic arcs. Stream-sediment geochemistry, mapped alteration, regional aeromagnetic data, and exploration history were considered in conjunction with descriptive deposit models and grade and tonnage models to guide estimates.

  10. Reliability benefits of dispersed wind resource development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Milligan, M.; Artig, R.

    1998-05-01

    Generating capacity that is available during the utility peak period is worth more than off-peak capacity. Wind power from a single location might not be available during enough of the peak period to provide sufficient value. However, if the wind power plant is developed over geographically disperse locations, the timing and availability of wind power from these multiple sources could provide a better match with the utility's peak load than a single site. There are other issues that arise when considering disperse wind plant development. Singular development can result in economies of scale and might reduce the costs of obtaining multiple permits and multiple interconnections. However, disperse development can result in cost efficiencies if interconnection can be accomplished at lower voltages or at locations closer to load centers. Several wind plants are in various stages of planning or development in the US. Although some of these are small-scale demonstration projects, significant wind capacity has been developed in Minnesota, with additional developments planned in Wyoming, Iowa and Texas. As these and other projects are planned and developed, there is a need to perform analysis of the value of geographically disperse sites on the reliability of the overall wind plant.This paper uses a production-cost/reliability model to analyze the reliability of several wind sites in the state of Minnesota. The analysis finds that the use of a model with traditional reliability measures does not produce consistent, robust results. An approach based on fuzzy set theory is applied in this paper, with improved results. Using such a model, the authors find that system reliability can be optimized with a mix of disperse wind sites

  11. Large-scale, high-resolution wind resource mapping for wind farm planning and development in South Africa

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mortensen, Niels Gylling; Badger, Jake; Hansen, Jens Carsten

    2014-01-01

    estimates are designed for national and provincial planning and strategic environmental impact assessment for wind power in South Africa and the results have therefore been made available in common GIS formats. The database of results is in the public domain and can be downloaded from the WASA web site...

  12. Windpower `96 - Proceedings of the American Wind Energy Association

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1996-12-31

    This document consists of eighty individual papers submitted to this conference. Wind power is discussed from many perspectives ranging from non-technical to technical. The include: energy policy; the world wide market to include Europe, Asia, the Americas, marketing strategies to promote wind power, economics, turbine development, electrical systems, testing, advanced components, utility issues, resource assessment, aerodynamics studies, wind-diesel systems, and dynamic modeling. Individual papers are indexed separately on the Energy Data Base.

  13. Cumulative impact assessments and bird/wind farm interactions: Developing a conceptual framework

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Masden, Elizabeth A.; Fox, Anthony D.; Furness, Robert W.; Bullman, Rhys; Haydon, Daniel T.

    2010-01-01

    The wind power industry has grown rapidly in the UK to meet EU targets of sourcing 20% of energy from renewable sources by 2020. Although wind power is a renewable energy source, there are environmental concerns over increasing numbers of wind farm proposals and associated cumulative impacts. Individually, a wind farm, or indeed any action, may have minor effects on the environment, but collectively these may be significant, potentially greater than the sum of the individual parts acting alone. EU and UK legislation requires a cumulative impact assessment (CIA) as part of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA). However, in the absence of detailed guidance and definitions, such assessments within EIA are rarely adequate, restricting the acquisition of basic knowledge about the cumulative impacts of wind farms on bird populations. Here we propose a conceptual framework to promote transparency in CIA through the explicit definition of impacts, actions and scales within an assessment. Our framework requires improved legislative guidance on the actions to include in assessments, and advice on the appropriate baselines against which to assess impacts. Cumulative impacts are currently considered on restricted scales (spatial and temporal) relating to individual development EIAs. We propose that benefits would be gained from elevating CIA to a strategic level, as a component of spatially explicit planning.

  14. Validation of sentinel-1A SAR coastal wind speeds against scanning LiDAR

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ahsbahs, Tobias Torben; Badger, Merete; Karagali, Ioanna

    2017-01-01

    High-accuracy wind data for coastal regions is needed today, e.g., for the assessment of wind resources. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is the only satellite borne sensor that has enough resolution to resolve wind speeds closer than 10 km to shore but the Geophysical Model Functions (GMF) used fo...

  15. Carolina Offshore Wind Integration Case Study: Phases I and II Final Technical Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fallon, Christopher [Duke Energy Business Services, LLC, Charlotte, NC (United States); Piper, Orvane [Duke Energy Business Services, LLC, Charlotte, NC (United States); Hazelip, William [Duke Energy Business Services, LLC, Charlotte, NC (United States); Zhao, Yishan [Duke Energy Business Services, LLC, Charlotte, NC (United States); Salvador, Lisa [Duke Energy Business Services, LLC, Charlotte, NC (United States); Pruitt, Tom [Duke Energy Business Services, LLC, Charlotte, NC (United States); Peterson, Jeffrey [Duke Energy Business Services, LLC, Charlotte, NC (United States); Ashby, Rebecca [Duke Energy Business Services, LLC, Charlotte, NC (United States); Pierce, Bob [Duke Energy Business Services, LLC, Charlotte, NC (United States); Burner, Bob [Duke Energy Business Services, LLC, Charlotte, NC (United States); Daniel, John [ABB, Inc., Cary, NC (United States); Zhu, Jinxiang [ABB, Inc., Cary, NC (United States); Moore, Maria [ABB, Inc., Cary, NC (United States); Liu, Shu [ABB, Inc., Cary, NC (United States); Pennock, Ken [AWS Truepower, LLC, Albany, NY (United States); Frank, Jaclyn [AWS Truepower, LLC, Albany, NY (United States); Ibanez, Eduardo [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Heaney, Michael [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Bloom, Aaron [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Zhang, Yingchen [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Elliott, Dennis [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Seim, Harvey E. [Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC (United States)

    2015-04-30

    Duke Energy performed a phase 1 study to assess the impact of offshore wind development in the waters off the coasts of North Carolina and South Carolina. The study analyzed the impacts to the Duke Energy Carolinas electric power system of multiple wind deployment scenarios. Focusing on an integrated utility system in the Carolinas provided a unique opportunity to assess the impacts of offshore wind development in a region that has received less attention regarding renewables than others in the US. North Carolina is the only state in the Southeastern United States that currently has a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) which requires that 12.5% of the state’s total energy requirements be met with renewable resources by 2021. 12.5% of the state’s total energy requirements in 2021 equates to approximately 17,000 GWH of energy needed from renewable resources. Wind resources represent one of the ways to potentially meet this requirement. The study builds upon and augments ongoing work, including a study by UNC to identify potential wind development sites and the analysis of impacts to the regional transmission system performed by the NCTPC, an Order 890 planning entity of which DEC is a member. Furthermore, because the region does not have an independent system operator (ISO) or regional transmission organization (RTO), the study will provide additional information unique to non-RTO/ISO systems. The Phase 2 study builds on the results of Phase 1 and investigates the dynamic stability of the electrical network in Task 4, the operating characteristics of the wind turbines as they impact operating reserve requirements of the DEC utility in Task 5, and the production cost of integrating the offshore wind resources into the DEC generation fleet making comparisons to future planned operation without the addition of the wind resources in Task 6.

  16. Assessment and prediction of wind turbine noise

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lowson, M.V.

    1993-01-01

    The significance of basic aerodynamic noise sources for wind turbine noise are assessed, using information on the aero-acoustic mechanisms of other rotors, which have been studied in depth for many years. From the analysis, areas of potential improvement in wind turbine noise prediction are defined. Suggestions are made for approaches to wind turbine noise control which separate the noise problems at cut-in from those at rated power. Some of these offer the possibility of noise reduction without unfavourable effects on performance. Based on this analysis, a new model for prediction of wind turbine noise is presented and comparisons made between prediction and experiment. The model is based on well established aeroacoustic theory and published laboratory data for the two principal sources, inflow turbulence and boundary layer trailing edge interaction. The new method gives good agreement with experiment with the case studied so far. Parametric trends and sensitivities for the model are presented. Comparisons with previous prediction methods are also given. A consequence of the new model is to put more emphasis on boundary layer trailing edge interaction as a noise source. There are prospects for reducing noise from this source detail changes to the wind turbine design. (author)

  17. Life cycle assessment of a floating offshore wind turbine

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Weinzettel, Jan [Department of Electrotechnology, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Technicka 2, Praha 166 27 (Czech Republic); Charles University in Prague Environment Center, U Krize 8, Prague 158 00 (Czech Republic); Reenaas, Marte; Solli, Christian [Industrial Ecology Programme, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7491 Trondheim (Norway); Hertwich, Edgar G. [Industrial Ecology Programme, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7491 Trondheim (Norway); Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7491 Trondheim (Norway)

    2009-03-15

    A development in wind energy technology towards higher nominal power of the wind turbines is related to the shift of the turbines to better wind conditions. After the shift from onshore to offshore areas, there has been an effort to move further from the sea coast to the deep water areas, which requires floating windmills. Such a concept brings additional environmental impact through higher material demand. To evaluate additional environmental burdens and to find out whether they can be rebalanced or even offset by better wind conditions, a prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) study of one floating concept has been performed and the results are presented in this paper. A comparison with existing LCA studies of conventional offshore wind power and electricity from a natural gas combined cycle is presented. The results indicate similar environmental impacts of electricity production using floating wind power plants as using non-floating offshore wind power plants. The most important stage in the life cycle of the wind power plants is the production of materials. Credits that are connected to recycling these materials at the end-of-life of the power plant are substantial. (author)

  18. Toward Robust and Efficient Climate Downscaling for Wind Energy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanvyve, E.; Rife, D.; Pinto, J. O.; Monaghan, A. J.; Davis, C. A.

    2011-12-01

    This presentation describes a more accurate and economical (less time, money and effort) wind resource assessment technique for the renewable energy industry, that incorporates innovative statistical techniques and new global mesoscale reanalyzes. The technique judiciously selects a collection of "case days" that accurately represent the full range of wind conditions observed at a given site over a 10-year period, in order to estimate the long-term energy yield. We will demonstrate that this new technique provides a very accurate and statistically reliable estimate of the 10-year record of the wind resource by intelligently choosing a sample of ±120 case days. This means that the expense of downscaling to quantify the wind resource at a prospective wind farm can be cut by two thirds from the current industry practice of downscaling a randomly chosen 365-day sample to represent winds over a "typical" year. This new estimate of the long-term energy yield at a prospective wind farm also has far less statistical uncertainty than the current industry standard approach. This key finding has the potential to reduce significantly market barriers to both onshore and offshore wind farm development, since insurers and financiers charge prohibitive premiums on investments that are deemed to be high risk. Lower uncertainty directly translates to lower perceived risk, and therefore far more attractive financing terms could be offered to wind farm developers who employ this new technique.

  19. Monthly Wind Characteristics and Wind Energy in Rwanda

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    user

    Abstract. Evaluating wind power potential for a site is indispensable before making any decision for the installation of wind energy infrastructures and planning for relating projects. This paper presents a branch of a composite analysis whose objective was to investigate the potential of wind energy resource in Rwanda.

  20. Wind climate from the regional climate model REMO

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsén, Xiaoli Guo; Mann, Jakob; Berg, Jacob

    2010-01-01

    Selected outputs from simulations with the regional climate model REMO from the Max Planck Institute, Hamburg, Germany were studied in connection with wind energy resource assessment. It was found that the mean wind characteristics based on observations from six mid-latitude stations are well...... described by the standard winds derived from the REMO pressure data. The mean wind parameters include the directional wind distribution, directional and omni-directional mean values and Weibull fitting parameters, spectral analysis and interannual variability of the standard winds. It was also found that......, on average, the wind characteristics from REMO are in better agreement with observations than those derived from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) re-analysis pressure data. The spatial correlation of REMO surface winds in Europe...

  1. Taxing wind in Canada : property tax assessment policies and practices in Canada

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2005-10-01

    Wind power projects are currently in development in every province and territory in Canada, and the wind industry expects to have over 10,000 MW of installed capacity by 2010. This paper provided the outcome of a study and survey on taxation policies for wind farms. Interviews were held with wind power developers from various jurisdictions. Representatives from various government authorities also completed surveys along with interviews conducted to clarify and validate information. Results of the survey showed that 6 provinces had clear property tax policies for wind farms. Key considerations included defining which aspects of the project could be assessed as real property, and which components could be considered as machinery and equipment. The survey showed a wide range of interpretations which may have implications on the assessed value of wind farms. Other concerns included the range of property taxes across regions, which may impact the financial performance of wind projects as well as influence decision related to site selection. 12 tabs., 3 figs

  2. Wind power, network congestion and hydro resource utilisation in the Norwegian power market

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Foersund, Finn; Singh, Balbir; Jensen, Trond; Larsen, Cato

    2005-01-01

    Capacity constraints in electricity networks can have important impacts on utilization of new renewable energy (RE) capacity and incumbent generation resources. Neglect of such impacts in development of RE resources can result in crowding-out of incumbent generation. This trade-off is particularly problematic if the incumbent generation also consists of renewable sources, such as hydropower in the Norwegian electricity system. This paper presents a numerical analysis of the current wind-power development plans in North Norway and their impacts on utilization of hydropower. Policy simulations in paper are conducted using a dynamic partial equilibrium model that is calibrated to reflect the structure of the Nordic power market. The paper draws conclusion and policy implications for integration of RE resources in the Norwegian power market. (Author)

  3. Wind Energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rodriguez D, J.M.

    1998-01-01

    The general theory of the wind energy conversion systems is presented. The availability of the wind resource in Colombia and the ranges of the speed of the wind in those which is possible economically to use the wind turbines are described. It is continued with a description of the principal technological characteristics of the wind turbines and are split into wind power and wind-powered pumps; and its use in large quantities grouped in wind farms or in autonomous systems. Finally, its costs and its environmental impact are presented

  4. Wind Energy Applications for Municipal Water Services: Opportunities, Situation Analyses, and Case Studies; Preprint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Flowers, L.; Miner-Nordstrom, L.

    2006-01-01

    As communities grow, greater demands are placed on water supplies, wastewater services, and the electricity needed to power the growing water services infrastructure. Water is also a critical resource for thermoelectric power plants. Future population growth in the United States is therefore expected to heighten competition for water resources. Many parts of the United States with increasing water stresses also have significant wind energy resources. Wind power is the fastest-growing electric generation source in the United States and is decreasing in cost to be competitive with thermoelectric generation. Wind energy can offer communities in water-stressed areas the option of economically meeting increasing energy needs without increasing demands on valuable water resources. Wind energy can also provide targeted energy production to serve critical local water-system needs. The research presented in this report describes a systematic assessment of the potential for wind power to support water utility operation, with the objective to identify promising technical applications and water utility case study opportunities. The first section describes the current situation that municipal providers face with respect to energy and water. The second section describes the progress that wind technologies have made in recent years to become a cost-effective electricity source. The third section describes the analysis employed to assess potential for wind power in support of water service providers, as well as two case studies. The report concludes with results and recommendations.

  5. Integrated spatial assessment of wind erosion risk in Hungary

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. Pásztor

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Wind erosion susceptibility of Hungarian soils was mapped on the national level integrating three factors of the complex phenomenon of deflation (physical soil features, wind characteristics, and land use and land cover. Results of wind tunnel experiments on erodibility of representative soil samples were used for the parametrization of a countrywide map of soil texture compiled for the upper 5 cm layer of soil, which resulted in a map representing threshold wind velocity exceedance. Average wind velocity was spatially estimated with 0.5′ resolution using the Meteorological Interpolation based on Surface Homogenised Data Basis (MISH method elaborated for the spatial interpolation of surface meteorological elements. The probability of threshold wind velocity exceedance was determined based on values predicted by the soil texture map at the grid locations. Ratio values were further interpolated to a finer 1 ha resolution using sand and silt content of the uppermost (0–5 cm layer of soil as spatial co-variables. Land cover was also taken into account, excluding areas that are not relevant to wind erosion (forests, water bodies, settlements, etc., to spatially assess the risk of wind erosion. According to the resulting map of wind erosion susceptibility, about 10 % of the total area of Hungary can be identified as susceptible to wind erosion. The map gives more detailed insight into the spatial distribution of wind-affected areas in Hungary compared to previous studies.

  6. Improved Formulation for the Optimization of Wind Turbine Placement in a Wind Farm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zong Woo Geem

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available As an alternative to fossil fuels, wind can be considered because it is a renewable and greenhouse gas-free natural resource. When wind power is generated by wind turbines in a wind farm, the optimal placement of turbines is critical because different layouts produce different efficiencies. The objective of the wind turbine placement problem is to maximize the generated power while minimizing the cost in installing the turbines. This study proposes an efficient optimization formulation for the optimal layout of wind turbine placements under the resources (e.g., number of turbines or budget limit by introducing corresponding constraints. The proposed formulation gave users more conveniences in considering resources and budget bounds. After performing the optimization, results were compared using two different methods (branch and bound method and genetic algorithm and two different objective functions.

  7. Wind turbine environmental assessment -- Vol 1: Screening document

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2000-04-01

    The environmental effects of the proposed construction and operation of up to three wind turbines on the Toronto waterfront are evaluated in accordance with the requirements of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) and Regulations. The nine sections of the report provide background on the environmental assessment and the wind turbine project; provide justification for the project and describes alternative sites and wind turbine technologies; outlines the scope of the project; sketches the biophysical and socio-economic environment; presents an evaluation of the environmental impacts and proposed mitigating measures; describes the public consultation program that was carried out; summarizes the comments received from interested parties; presents the conclusion of the environmental impact assessment; and responds to the public comments received on the draft screening document. Most of the concerns raised involved avoidance reactions by birds, disruption or fragmentation of wildlife, the potential for high kill rate of small nocturnal migrants and young birds, and the effect of noise on breeding birds. The overall recommendation of the consultants is that the project is not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects and its construction and operations should be authorized. 115 refs., 8 tabs., 2 figs. (14 appendices are in volume 2)

  8. Noise impact assessment of wind farms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hayes, M.

    1993-01-01

    The noise impact assessment of a wind farm is dependent upon a number of factors pertinent to the site. The most controversial is the selection of a criterion which is acceptable to both the developer of a site, in terms of maximising the number of turbines he may operate without fear of injunction to stop, and the local residents and Environmental Health Officer who will have to enforce any agreements. A number of British Standards exist which cover noise issues. There are, however, certain reservations about their use when applied to potential wind farm developments; some of the more relevant standards are outlined. In addition, Draft Planning Guidance notes which have recently been issued are discussed. These are intended to provide an indication to local planning authorities as to what noise levels and criteria may be acceptable when considering noise emitted by wind farms. No European standard for noise emission from wind farms exists but the legislative position in Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden is briefly considered. It is considered that when a maximum level criterion is set it should take into account the existing background noise levels based on measurements which are taken at the most sensitive dwellings to the site. A method for calculating emitted noise levels from turbine arrays is described. (UK)

  9. Overview of the New England wind integration. Study and selected results

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Norden, John R.; Henson, William L.W. [ISO New England, Holyoke, MA (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ISO New England commissioned a comprehensive wind integration study to be completed in the early fall of 2010: the New England Wind Integration Study (NEWIS). The NEWIS assesses the efects of scenarios that encompass a range of wind-power penetrations in New England using statistical and simulation analysis including the development of a mesoscale wind-to-power model for the New England and Maritime wind resources areas. It also determines the impacts of integrating increasing amounts of wind generation resources for New England, as well as, the measures that may be available to the ISO for responding to any challenges while enabling the integration of wind-power. This paper provides an overview of the study then focuses on selected near final results, particularly with regard to the varying capacity factor, capacity value and siting that were determined as part of the study. The full results of the NEWIS will be released in the fall of 2010. (orig.)

  10. Mid-Atlantic Offshore Wind Interconnection and Transmission (MAOWIT)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kempton, Willett [Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE (United States)

    2016-04-05

    This project has carried out a detailed analysis to evaluate the pros and cons of offshore transmission, a possible method to decrease balance-of-system costs and permitting time identified in the DOE Office Wind Strategic Plan (DOE, 2011). It also addresses questions regarding the adequacy of existing transmission infrastructure and the ability of existing generating resources to provide the necessary Ancillary Services (A/S) support (spinning and contingency reserves) in the ISO territory. This project has completed the tasks identified in the proposal: 1. Evaluation of the offshore wind resource off PJM, then examination of offshore wind penetrations consistent with U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) targets and with their assumed resource size (DOE, 2011). 2. Comparison of piecemeal radial connections to the Independent System Operator (ISO) with connections via a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) offshore network similar to a team partner. 3. High-resolution examination of power fluctuations at each node due to wind energy variability 4. Analysis of wind power production profiles over the Eastern offshore region of the regional ISO to assess the effectiveness of long-distance, North- South transmission for leveling offshore wind energy output 5. Analysis of how the third and fourth items affect the need for ISO grid upgrades, congestion management, and demand for Ancillary Services (A/S) 6. Analysis of actual historic 36-hr and 24-hr forecasts to solve the unit commitment problem and determine the optimal mix of generators given the need to respond to both wind variability and wind forecasting uncertainties.

  11. Investment risk analysis of China's wind power industry based on pre-assessment matrix

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Yang Yong; Jiang Dongmei; Geng Jie; Fan Hua; Zhang Fashu

    2009-01-01

    Wind energy is a clean and sustainable energy, and wind power does not rely on fossil fuels.So there is no fuel price risk, and it, of course, does not include the environmental costs, such as carbon emissions.Because of these unique advantages, wind power has gradually become an important part of the strategy of sustainable development in China.Now with the growing voices on global greenhouse gas emission reduction, and as a clean and efficient energy,wind power has huge potential in combating climate change, energy security pressures and the needs for energy Wind power in China began to develop from the 1980s.In the first 20 years, the speed of development was slow;but since 2004, it has had an extremely rapid growth.This paper, in order to study the development mechanism of China's wind power industry, investigated and analyzed the status quo of wind power industry in China, and then found that(1)the development trend of wind power industry in China appears exponential growth:(2) China's installed capactiy of wind power is still smaller than that os some other countries;(3) new subsidy policies bring developing opportunities to wind power industry in China;(4) the sectors of wind power industry are in unbalanced growing;(5) the owners of proposed wind farms are too optimistic though the built wind farm had many problems.In addition, by using the methodology of Game Theory, this paper has also constructed the matrix of pre-assessing risks of China's wind power industry to further discuss the potential risk fuctors within China's wind power industry as risk factors of wind farm construction, risk factors of production of wind turbines, risk factors of parts and components manufacturing industry under risk indicators like R&D, patents, the domestic policy, the international policy, the quality of products and the market regulation, in order to provide a scientific assessment and self-assessment tool for investors or implementers and also to promote the further

  12. The Wind Integration National Dataset (WIND) toolkit (Presentation)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Caroline Draxl: NREL

    2014-01-01

    Regional wind integration studies require detailed wind power output data at many locations to perform simulations of how the power system will operate under high penetration scenarios. The wind datasets that serve as inputs into the study must realistically reflect the ramping characteristics, spatial and temporal correlations, and capacity factors of the simulated wind plants, as well as being time synchronized with available load profiles.As described in this presentation, the WIND Toolkit fulfills these requirements by providing a state-of-the-art national (US) wind resource, power production and forecast dataset.

  13. Using wind speed from a blade-mounted flow sensor for power and load assessment on modern wind turbines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Mads M.; Larsen, Torben J.; Madsen, Helge Aa

    2017-01-01

    In this paper an alternative method to evaluate power performance and loads on wind turbines using a blade-mounted flow sensor is investigated. The hypothesis is that the wind speed measured at the blades has a high correlation with the power and loads such that a power or load assessment can...... be performed from a few hours or days of measurements. In the present study a blade-mounted five-hole pitot tube is used as the flow sensor as an alternative to the conventional approach, where the reference wind speed is either measured at a nearby met mast or on the nacelle using lidar technology or cup...... anemometers. From the flow sensor measurements, an accurate estimate of the wind speed at the rotor plane can be obtained. This wind speed is disturbed by the presence of the wind turbine, and it is therefore different from the free-flow wind speed. However, the recorded wind speed has a high correlation...

  14. Accurate Short-Term Power Forecasting of Wind Turbines: The Case of Jeju Island’s Wind Farm

    OpenAIRE

    BeomJun Park; Jin Hur

    2017-01-01

    Short-term wind power forecasting is a technique which tells system operators how much wind power can be expected at a specific time. Due to the increasing penetration of wind generating resources into the power grids, short-term wind power forecasting is becoming an important issue for grid integration analysis. The high reliability of wind power forecasting can contribute to the successful integration of wind generating resources into the power grids. To guarantee the reliability of forecas...

  15. Wind farm project economics : value of wind

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bills-Everett, T. [Mainstream Renewable Power, Toronto, ON (Canada)

    2010-07-01

    This PowerPoint presentation discussed methods of increasing the value of wind power projects. Appropriate turbine selection and layout is needed to ensure that wind resources are fully developed. Construction costs have a significant impact on project costs. The world turbine price index has not significantly fluctuated since 2006. Operating costs, and the value of wind power projects, are linked with OPEX fluctuations. Wind power projects can significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. An increase in wind power capacity will reduce the overall cost of energy produced from wind power. Countries can use wind power as part of a renewable energy portfolio designed to reduce risks related to diminishing petroleum supplies. Wind power will help to ensure a global transition to renewable energy use. tabs., figs.

  16. Information technology resources assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stevens, D.F. [ed.

    1992-01-01

    This year`s Information Technology Resources Assessment (ITRA) is something of a departure from traditional practice. Past assessments have concentrated on developments in fundamental technology, particularly with respect to hardware. They form an impressive chronicle of decreasing cycle times, increasing densities, decreasing costs (or, equivalently, increasing capacity and capability per dollar spent), and new system architectures, with a leavening of operating systems and languages. Past assessments have aimed -- and succeeded -- at putting information technology squarely in the spotlight; by contrast, in the first part of this assessment, we would like to move it to the background, and encourage the reader to reflect less on the continuing technological miracles of miniaturization in space and time and more on the second- and third-order implications of some possible workplace applications of these miracles. This Information Technology Resources Assessment is intended to provide a sense of technological direction for planners in projecting the hardware, software, and human resources necessary to support the diverse IT requirements of the various components of the DOE community. It is also intended to provide a sense of our new understanding of the place of IT in our organizations.

  17. Information technology resources assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stevens, D.F. (ed.)

    1992-01-01

    This year's Information Technology Resources Assessment (ITRA) is something of a departure from traditional practice. Past assessments have concentrated on developments in fundamental technology, particularly with respect to hardware. They form an impressive chronicle of decreasing cycle times, increasing densities, decreasing costs (or, equivalently, increasing capacity and capability per dollar spent), and new system architectures, with a leavening of operating systems and languages. Past assessments have aimed -- and succeeded -- at putting information technology squarely in the spotlight; by contrast, in the first part of this assessment, we would like to move it to the background, and encourage the reader to reflect less on the continuing technological miracles of miniaturization in space and time and more on the second- and third-order implications of some possible workplace applications of these miracles. This Information Technology Resources Assessment is intended to provide a sense of technological direction for planners in projecting the hardware, software, and human resources necessary to support the diverse IT requirements of the various components of the DOE community. It is also intended to provide a sense of our new understanding of the place of IT in our organizations.

  18. Wind energy potential in India

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rangarajan, S.

    1995-01-01

    Though located in the tropics, India is endowed with substantial wind resources because of its unique geographical location which gets fully exposed to both the south-west and north-east monsoon winds. The westerly winds of the south-west monsoons provide bulk of the wind potential. Areas with mean annual wind speed exceeding 18 k mph and areas with mean annual power density greater than 140 W/m 2 have been identified using the wind data collected by the wind monitoring project funded by the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources (MNES). Seasonal variations in wind speed at selected locations are discussed as also the frequency distribution of hourly wind speed. Annual capacity factors for 250 kW wind electric generators have been calculated for several typical locations. A good linear correlation has been found between mean annual wind speed and mean annual capacity factor. A method is described for assessing wind potential over an extended region where adequate data is available. It is shown that the combined wind energy potential over five selected areas of limited extent in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu alone amounts to 22,000 MW under the assumption of 20 per cent land availability for installing wind farms. For a higher percentage of land availability, the potential will be correspondingly higher. (author). 12 refs., 6 figs., 3 tabs

  19. Feasibility Study for a Hopi Utility-Scale Wind Project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kendrick Lomayestewa

    2011-05-31

    The goal of this project was to investigate the feasibility for the generation of energy from wind and to parallel this work with the development of a tribal utility organization capable of undertaking potential joint ventures in utility businesses and projects on the Hopi reservation. The goal of this project was to investigate the feasibility for the generation of energy from wind and to parallel this work with the development of a tribal utility organization capable of undertaking potential joint ventures in utility businesses and projects on the Hopi reservation. Wind resource assessments were conducted at two study sites on Hopi fee simple lands located south of the city of Winslow. Reports from the study were recently completed and have not been compared to any existing historical wind data nor have they been processed under any wind assessment models to determine the output performance and the project economics of turbines at the wind study sites. Ongoing analysis of the wind data and project modeling will determine the feasibility of a tribal utility-scale wind energy generation.

  20. Climatic wind tunnel for wind engineering tasks

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kuznetsov, Sergeii; Pospíšil, Stanislav; Král, Radomil

    2015-01-01

    Roč. 112, 2-B (2015), s. 303-316 ISSN 1897-628X R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA14-12892S Keywords : climatic tunnel * wind tunnel * atmospheric boundary layer * flow resistance * wind tunnel contraction Subject RIV: JM - Building Engineering https://suw.biblos.pk.edu.pl/resources/i5/i6/i6/i7/i6/r56676/KuznetsovS_ClimaticWind.pdf

  1. A systematic approach of bottom-up assessment methodology for an optimal design of hybrid solar/wind energy resources – Case study at middle east region

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ifaei, Pouya; Karbassi, Abdolreza; Jacome, Gabriel; Yoo, ChangKyoo

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • Proposing DaSOSaCa flowchart as a novel hybrid solar/wind assessment approach. • Calculating four key parameters to generate synthetic wind hourly data for Iran. • Proposing technical and economic hybrid solar/wind GIS maps of Iran. • Revising renewable energies management plans of Iran by macroeconomic evaluation. - Abstract: In the current study, an algorithm-based data processing, sizing, optimization, sensitivity analysis and clustering approach (DaSOSaCa) is proposed as an efficient simultaneous solar/wind assessment methodology. Accordingly, data processing is performed to obtain reliable high quality meteorological data among various datasets, which are used for hybrid photovoltaic/wind turbine/storage/converter system optimal design for consequent sites in a large region. The optimal hybrid systems are consequently simulated to meet hourly power demand in various sites. The solar/wind fraction and net present cost of the systems are then used as the technical and economic clustering variables, respectively. The clustering results are finally used as input to obtain novel hybrid solar/wind GIS maps. Iran is selected as the case study to validate the proposed methodology and detail its applicability. Ten minute annual global horizontal radiation, wind speed, and temperature data are analyzed, and the optimal, robust hybrid systems are simulated for various sites in order to classify the country. The generated GIS maps show that Iran can be efficiently clustered into four technical and five economic clusters under optimal conditions. The clustering results prove that Iran is mainly a solar country with approximately 74% solar power fraction under optimum conditions. A macroeconomic evaluation using DaSOSaCa also reveals that the nominal discount rate is recommended to be greater than 20% considering the current economic situation for the renewable energy sector in Iran. An environmental analysis results show that an average 106.68 tonCO 2

  2. EnviroAtlas - Annual average potential wind energy resource by 12-digit HUC for the Conterminous United States

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset shows the annual average potential wind energy resource in kilowatt hours per square kilometer per day for each 12-digit Hydrologic Unit...

  3. State of the art on power performance assessments for wind energy conversion systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maribo Pedersen, B. [ed.

    1997-12-31

    It is the intention of this meeting to clarify the status of power performance verification and assessment and identify the future needs in terms of applications, research fields and standardization actions, putting emphasis on the following items: Power performance verification for wind farms; Power performance verification for large wind turbines; Power performance verification for wind turbines operating in complex terrain; Assessment of the available international and national standards; Assessment of developed, applied and verified tools for WECS power performance. This Experts Meeting had gathered 14 participants from 6 different countries. 12 presentations were given and although countries with a sizeable wind program, ie. Italy, UK and Spain were not present, it is felt that the meeting gave a fair impression of the contemporary state of the art world wide. Specific problems concerning accurate definition and measurement of wind speed by cup-anemometers were dealt with. Different sources of errors were analysed and valuable new experimental results were presented. Other instruments for wind-speed measurements than cup-anemometers were discussed as well. (EG)

  4. WindScanner.eu - a new remote sensing research infrastructure for on- and offshore wind energy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mikkelsen, Torben; Knudsen, Soeren; Sjoeholm, M.; Angeloua, N.; Tegtmeier, A. [Technical Univ. og Denmark. DTU Wind Energy, DTU Risoe Campus, Roskilde (Denmark)

    2012-07-01

    A new remote sensing based research infrastructure for atmospheric boundary-layer wind and turbulence measurements named WindScanner have during the past three years been in its early phase of development at DTU Wind Energy in Denmark. During the forthcoming three years the technology will be disseminated throughout Europe to pilot European wind energy research centers. The new research infrastructure will become an open source infrastructure that also invites collaboration with wind energy related atmospheric scientists and wind energy industry overseas. Recent achievements with 3D WindScanners and spin-off innovation activity are described. The Danish WindScanner.dk research facility is build from new and fast-scanning remote sensing equipment spurred from achievements within fiber optics and telecommunication technologies. At the same time the wind energy society has demanded excessive 3D wind flow and ever taller wind profile measurements for the wind energy resource assessment studies on- and off shore of the future. Today, hub heights on +5 MW wind turbines exceed the 100 m mark. At the Danish DTU test site Oesterild testing is ongoing with a Siemens turbine with hub height 120 meters and a rotor diameter of 154 meters; hence its blade tips reaches almost 200 meters into the sky. The wind speed profiles over the rotor planes are consequently no longer representatively measured by a single cup anemometer at hub height from a nearby met-mast; power curve assessment as well as turbine control call for multi-height multi point measurement strategies of wind speed and wind shear within the turbines entire rotor plane. The development of our new remote sensing-based WindScanner.dk facility as well as the first measurement results obtained to date are here presented, including a first wind lidar measurement of turbulence in complex terrain within an internal boundary layer developing behind an escarpment. Also measurements of wind speed and direction profiles

  5. Quantitative variability of renewable energy resources in Norway

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christakos, Konstantinos; Varlas, George; Cheliotis, Ioannis; Aalstad, Kristoffer; Papadopoulos, Anastasios; Katsafados, Petros; Steeneveld, Gert-Jan

    2017-04-01

    Based on European Union (EU) targets for 2030, the share of renewable energy (RE) consumption should be increased at 27%. RE resources such as hydropower, wind, wave power and solar power are strongly depending on the chaotic behavior of the weather conditions and climate. Due to this dependency, the prediction of the spatiotemporal variability of the RE resources is more crucial factor than in other energy resources (i.e. carbon based energy). The fluctuation of the RE resources can affect the development of the RE technologies, the energy grid, supply and prices. This study investigates the variability of the potential RE resources in Norway. More specifically, hydropower, wind, wave, and solar power are quantitatively analyzed and correlated with respect to various spatial and temporal scales. In order to analyze the diversities and their interrelationships, reanalysis and observational data of wind, precipitation, wave, and solar radiation are used for a quantitative assessment. The results indicate a high variability of marine RE resources in the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea.

  6. Economical assessment of a wind-hydrogen energy system using WindHyGen registered software

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aguado, Monica; Ayerbe, Elixabete; Garde, Raquel; Rivas, David M.; Azcarate, Cristina; Blanco, Rosa; Mallor, Fermin

    2009-01-01

    This paper considers the problem of analyzing the economical feasibility of a wind-hydrogen energy storage and transformation system. Energy systems based on certain renewable sources as wind power, have the drawback of random input making them a non-reliable supplier of energy. Regulation of output energy requires the introduction of new equipment with the capacity to store it. We have chosen the hydrogen as an energy storage system due to its versatility. The advantage of these energy storage systems is that the energy can be used (sold) when the demand for energy rises, and needs (prices) therefore are higher. There are two disadvantages: (a) the cost of the new equipment and (b) energy loss due to inefficiencies in the transformation processes. In this research we develop a simulation model to aid in the economic assessment of this type of energy systems, which also integrates an optimization phase to simulate optimal management policies. Finally we analyze a wind-hydrogen farm in order to determine its economical viability compared to current wind farms. (author)

  7. Externalities in utility resource selection: A means to formally recognize the envionmental benefits of wind farms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Birner, S.

    1992-01-01

    Wind can only make its full contribution to the minimization of the total cost of energy services if it is valued for all the costs that it avoids, including avoided environmental costs. Means of incorporating environmental costs, or externalities, into utility planning decisions are described. Externalities are defined as uncompensated costs or benefits of an action borne by a party other than the one causing the costs. A simple example of the use of externalities in utility resource selection is presented, comparing costs of a coal-fired power plant and a wind farm. Externalities of wind farms are analyzed and found to be very low. An examination of some aspects of legislation in the USA and Canada shows a trend for utility commissions and other regulatory bodies to determine that including externalitites lies within their mandate. By formally recognizing and accounting for the environmental benefits of wind farms, it is seen that externalities can have a significant effect on utility demand for wind energy. A review of USA state actions regarding externalities is appended. 10 refs

  8. Assessing the economic wind power potential in Austria

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gass, Viktoria; Schmidt, Johannes; Strauss, Franziska; Schmid, Erwin

    2013-01-01

    In the European Union, electricity production from wind energy is projected to increase by approximately 16% until 2020. The Austrian energy plan aims at increasing the currently installed wind power capacity from approximately 1 GW to 3 GW until 2020 including an additional capacity of 700 MW until 2015. The aim of this analysis is to assess economically viable wind turbine sites under current feed-in tariffs considering constraints imposed by infrastructure, the natural environment and ecological preservation zones in Austria. We analyze whether the policy target of installing an additional wind power capacity of 700 MW until 2015 is attainable under current legislation and developed a GIS based decision system for wind turbine site selection.Results show that the current feed-in tariff of 9.7 ct kW h −1 may trigger an additional installation of 3544 MW. The current feed-in tariff can therefore be considered too high as wind power deployment would exceed the target by far. Our results indicate that the targets may be attained more cost-effectively by applying a lower feed-in tariff of 9.1 ct kW h −1 . Thus, windfall profits at favorable sites and deadweight losses of policy intervention can be minimized while still guaranteeing the deployment of additional wind power capacities. - Highlight: ► Wind supply curves with high spatial resolution for whole Austria are derived. ► Current feed-in tariff higher than necessary to attain targets. ► Previous feed-in tariffs were too low to achieve targets. ► Current support scheme leads to high social welfare losses. ► Policy makers face high information asymmetry when setting feed-in tariffs.

  9. Wind turbines application for energy savings in Gas transportation system

    OpenAIRE

    Mingaleeva, Renata

    2014-01-01

    The Thesis shows the perspectives of involving renewable energy resources into the energy balance of Russia, namely the use of wind energy for the purpose of energy supply for the objects of the Russian Gas transportation system. The methodology of the wind energy technical potential calculation is designed and the wind energy technical potential assessment for onshore and offshore zones of Russia is presented. The analysis of Russian Gas transportation system in terms of energy consumption i...

  10. Continuous spatial modelling to analyse planning and economic consequences of offshore wind energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moeller, Bernd

    2011-01-01

    Offshore wind resources appear abundant, but technological, economic and planning issues significantly reduce the theoretical potential. While massive investments are anticipated and planners and developers are scouting for viable locations and consider risk and impact, few studies simultaneously address potentials and costs together with the consequences of proposed planning in an analytical and continuous manner and for larger areas at once. Consequences may be investments short of efficiency and equity, and failed planning routines. A spatial resource economic model for the Danish offshore waters is presented, used to analyse area constraints, technological risks, priorities for development and opportunity costs of maintaining competing area uses. The SCREAM-offshore wind model (Spatially Continuous Resource Economic Analysis Model) uses raster-based geographical information systems (GIS) and considers numerous geographical factors, technology and cost data as well as planning information. Novel elements are weighted visibility analysis and geographically recorded shipping movements as variable constraints. A number of scenarios have been described, which include restrictions of using offshore areas, as well as alternative uses such as conservation and tourism. The results comprise maps, tables and cost-supply curves for further resource economic assessment and policy analysis. A discussion of parameter variations exposes uncertainties of technology development, environmental protection as well as competing area uses and illustrates how such models might assist in ameliorating public planning, while procuring decision bases for the political process. The method can be adapted to different research questions, and is largely applicable in other parts of the world. - Research Highlights: → A model for the spatially continuous evaluation of offshore wind resources. → Assessment of spatial constraints, costs and resources for each location. → Planning tool for

  11. Landscape integration and harmonization assessment guide : wind farm siting project on public land

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bouchard, M.A.; Boudart, M.; Arsenault, M.; Lauzon, M.; Lizotte, C.; Munoz, P.; Poirier, C.; Guimont, C.; Sainte-Marie, L.

    2005-07-01

    The development of a wind farm industry depends greatly on obtaining land use rights. This paper describes a program created by the Quebec Government to make public land available for wind farm construction. In particular, the program allows the government to set aside public land to promote the development of the wind industry in the Gaspe Region and the Matane Regional County Municipality. It also awards land rights for wind farm construction to bidders who have signed wind energy sales contracts with Hydro-Quebec Distribution. The program allows the government to set lease rates for public land used for wind farms based on market rates. This document is a guide used by Quebec's Ministry of Natural Resources to evaluate projects and issue leases for parcels of public land to be used for wind turbine arrays. It identifies major landscape issues associated with wind farms and allows proponents to demonstrate the natural and anthropogenic impacts of a wind farm on the landscape and present mitigative measures to minimize these impacts. This document also identifies the wind farm landscape integration and harmonization principles for public lands in Quebec. It was noted that wind farm projects with 10 MW capacity or less are not subject to guidelines established by the Quebec Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks. 23 refs., 2 tabs.

  12. Wind energy potential assessment of Cameroon's coastal regions for the installation of an onshore wind farm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arreyndip, Nkongho Ayuketang; Joseph, Ebobenow; David, Afungchui

    2016-11-01

    For the future installation of a wind farm in Cameroon, the wind energy potentials of three of Cameroon's coastal cities (Kribi, Douala and Limbe) are assessed using NASA average monthly wind data for 31 years (1983-2013) and compared through Weibull statistics. The Weibull parameters are estimated by the method of maximum likelihood, the mean power densities, the maximum energy carrying wind speeds and the most probable wind speeds are also calculated and compared over these three cities. Finally, the cumulative wind speed distributions over the wet and dry seasons are also analyzed. The results show that the shape and scale parameters for Kribi, Douala and Limbe are 2.9 and 2.8, 3.9 and 1.8 and 3.08 and 2.58, respectively. The mean power densities through Weibull analysis for Kribi, Douala and Limbe are 33.7 W/m2, 8.0 W/m2 and 25.42 W/m2, respectively. Kribi's most probable wind speed and maximum energy carrying wind speed was found to be 2.42 m/s and 3.35 m/s, 2.27 m/s and 3.03 m/s for Limbe and 1.67 m/s and 2.0 m/s for Douala, respectively. Analysis of the wind speed and hence power distribution over the wet and dry seasons shows that in the wet season, August is the windiest month for Douala and Limbe while September is the windiest month for Kribi while in the dry season, March is the windiest month for Douala and Limbe while February is the windiest month for Kribi. In terms of mean power density, most probable wind speed and wind speed carrying maximum energy, Kribi shows to be the best site for the installation of a wind farm. Generally, the wind speeds at all three locations seem quite low, average wind speeds of all the three studied locations fall below 4.0m/s which is far below the cut-in wind speed of many modern wind turbines. However we recommend the use of low cut-in speed wind turbines like the Savonius for stand alone low energy needs.

  13. Wind energy developments in the Americas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Swisher, R.; Ancona, D.F.

    1990-01-01

    This paper will highlight the key wind energy activities and programs of American countries. In South and Central America, wind technology awareness and opportunity is spreading. Countries have projects in the beginning stages of development and many sites with excellent wind resources are believed to exist. Argentina, Costa Rica, Colombia, Mexico, and several Caribbean countries are among those active in wind energy development. In Canada, after a decade of research and systems development, the Department of Energy Mines and Resources is conducting a review of all renewable energy technologies, including wind, to develop a strategic plan for future activities. Canadian industry continues development of various vertical axis projects and the Province of Alberta has begun a program to assess wind potential in that region. In the United States, commercial application of wind energy is continuing to expand. During 1989, over 140 MW of new wind turbine capacity was installed in wind power plants, bringing the total operating in the U.S. to 14600 turbines and 1,400 MW. During 1989, these machines produced over 2.1 billion kWh, enough to supply the residential needs of Washington D.C. or San Francisco. This is an increase of 15% over the 1988 total, even though installed operating capacity dropped by about 10% as smaller, out-dated turbines were phased out or replaced. The U.S. government is in the process of formulating a new National Energy Strategy. It seems clear that renewable energy and energy efficiency will play an increasingly important role in this strategy. The U.S. wind program continues to emphasize broad-based technology development, but has also initiated conceptual design studies for an advanced wind turbine for power generation in the late 1990s. (Author)

  14. Monthly Wind Characteristics and Wind Energy in Rwanda | Sarari ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Evaluating wind power potential for a site is indispensable before making any ... objective was to investigate the potential of wind energy resource in Rwanda. ... fit to the distribution of the measured wind data varies from a location to another. ... (14); Eritrea (1); Ethiopia (30); Ghana (27); Kenya (29); Lesotho (1); Libya (2) ...

  15. California's forest resources. Preliminary assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1979-01-01

    This Preliminary Assessment was prepared in response to the California Forest Resources Assessment and Policy Act of 1977 (FRAPA). This Act was passed to improve the information base upon which State resource administrators formulate forest policy. The Act provides for this report and a full assessment by 1987 and at five year intervals thereafter. Information is presented under the following chapter titles: introduction to the forest resources assessment program; the forest area: a general description; classifications of the forest lands; the watersheds; forest lands and the air resource; fish and wildlife resources; the forested rangelands; the wilderness; forest lands as a recreation resource; the timber resource; wood energy; forest lands and the mineral, fossil fuels, and geothermal energy resources; mathematically modeling California's forest lands; vegetation mapping using remote sensing technology; important forest resources legislation; and, State and cooperative State/Federal forestry programs. Twelve indexes, a bibliography, and glossary are included. (JGB)

  16. Hualapai Wind Project Feasibility Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Davidson, Kevin [Hualapai Tribe; Randall, Mark [Daystar Consulting; Isham, Tom [Power Engineers; Horna, Marion J [MJH Power Consulting LLC; Koronkiewicz, T [SWCA Environmental, Inc.; Simon, Rich [V-Bar, LLC; Matthew, Rojas [Squire Sanders Dempsey; MacCourt, Doug C. [Ater Wynne, LLP; Burpo, Rob [First American Financial Advisors, Inc.

    2012-12-20

    The Hualapai Department of Planning and Economic Development, with funding assistance from the U.S. Department of Energy, Tribal Energy Program, with the aid of six consultants has completed the four key prerequisites as follows: 1. Identify the site area for development and its suitability for construction. 2. Determine the wind resource potential for the identified site area. 3. Determine the electrical transmission and interconnection feasibility to get the electrical power produced to the marketplace. 4. Complete an initial permitting and environmental assessment to determine the feasibility for getting the project permitted. Those studies indicated a suitable wind resource and favorable conditions for permitting and construction. The permitting and environmental study did not reveal any fatal flaws. A review of the best power sale opportunities indicate southern California has the highest potential for obtaining a PPA that may make the project viable. Based on these results, the recommendation is for the Hualapai Tribal Nation to move forward with attracting a qualified wind developer to work with the Tribe to move the project into the second phase - determining the reality factors for developing a wind project. a qualified developer will bid to a utility or negotiate a PPA to make the project viable for financing.

  17. Assessing the impacts of wind energy development on bats

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arnett, E.B. [Bat Conservation International, Austin, TX (United States)

    2008-07-01

    Research conducted by the Bats and Wind Energy Cooperative in West Virginia was presented. Bats are key pollinators, seed dispersers, and insect predators. Bats also help to protect crops and play an important role in helping to reduce pesticide use. However, bats reproduce slowly and are susceptible to mortality factors. In 2003, between 1398 and 4031 bats were killed at the Mountaineer Wind Energy Facility in West Virginia. Possible explanations why bats are killed by wind turbines include the fact that wind farms form a linear corridor. Acoustics, echolocation failure, and electromagnetic-disorientation may also play a role in bat mortalities. Unifying patterns of bat fatalities at wind facilities include the fact that fatalities are heavily skewed toward migratory bats. Peak turbine collision fatalities occur in mid-summer. Bat fatalities are highest during periods of low wind speed and seem to be related to climate variables associated with the passage of weather fronts. Studies have also shown that the changing cut-in speeds of turbines may also reduce bat fatalities. It was concluded that pre-construction assessments should be conducted to determine high risk areas. tabs., figs.

  18. Using wind speed from a blade-mounted flow sensor for power and load assessment on modern wind turbines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. M. Pedersen

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available In this paper an alternative method to evaluate power performance and loads on wind turbines using a blade-mounted flow sensor is investigated. The hypothesis is that the wind speed measured at the blades has a high correlation with the power and loads such that a power or load assessment can be performed from a few hours or days of measurements.In the present study a blade-mounted five-hole pitot tube is used as the flow sensor as an alternative to the conventional approach, where the reference wind speed is either measured at a nearby met mast or on the nacelle using lidar technology or cup anemometers. From the flow sensor measurements, an accurate estimate of the wind speed at the rotor plane can be obtained. This wind speed is disturbed by the presence of the wind turbine, and it is therefore different from the free-flow wind speed. However, the recorded wind speed has a high correlation with the actual power production as well as the flap-wise loads as it is measured close to the blade where the aerodynamic forces are acting.Conventional power curves are based on at least 180 h of 10 min mean values, but using the blade-mounted flow sensor both the observation average time and the overall assessment time can potentially be shortened. The basis for this hypothesis is that the sensor is able to provide more observations with higher accuracy, as the sensor follows the rotation of the rotor and because of the high correlation between the flow at the blades and the power production. This is the research question addressed in this paper.The method is first tested using aeroelastic simulations where the dependence of the radial position and effect of multiple blade-mounted flow sensors are also investigated. Next the method is evaluated on the basis of full-scale measurements on a pitch-regulated, variable-speed 3.6 MW wind turbine.It is concluded that the wind speed derived from the blade-mounted flow sensor is highly correlated with the

  19. Exploiting Synergies in European Wind and Hydrogen Sectors: A Cost-benefit Assessment

    OpenAIRE

    SHAW SUZANNE; PETEVES ESTATHIOS

    2007-01-01

    This article outlines an assessment of the perspectives for exploiting synergies between European wind and hydrogen energy sectors, where wind energy conversion to hydrogen is used as a common strategy for reducing network management costs in high wind energy penetration situations, and for production of renewable hydrogen. The attractiveness of this approach, referred to here as a ¿¿wind-hydrogen strategy¿¿, is analysed using a costbenefit approach to evaluate the final impact...

  20. Quantifying the Benefits of Combining Offshore Wind and Wave Energy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stoutenburg, E.; Jacobson, M. Z.

    2009-12-01

    For many locations the offshore wind resource and the wave energy resource are collocated, which suggests a natural synergy if both technologies are combined into one offshore marine renewable energy plant. Initial meteorological assessments of the western coast of the United States suggest only a weak correlation in power levels of wind and wave energy at any given hour associated with the large ocean basin wave dynamics and storm systems of the North Pacific. This finding indicates that combining the two power sources could reduce the variability in electric power output from a combined wind and wave offshore plant. A combined plant is modeled with offshore wind turbines and Pelamis wave energy converters with wind and wave data from meteorological buoys operated by the US National Buoy Data Center off the coast of California, Oregon, and Washington. This study will present results of quantifying the benefits of combining wind and wave energy for the electrical power system to facilitate increased renewable energy penetration to support reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and air and water pollution associated with conventional fossil fuel power plants.

  1. Assessing the value of wind generation in future carbon constrained electricity industries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vithayasrichareon, Peerapat; MacGill, Iain F.

    2013-01-01

    This paper employs a novel Monte-Carlo based generation portfolio assessment tool to explore the implications of increasing wind penetration and carbon prices within future electricity generation portfolios under considerable uncertainty. This tool combines optimal generation mix techniques with Monte Carlo simulation and portfolio analysis methods to determine expected overall generation costs, associated cost uncertainty and expected CO 2 emissions for different possible generation portfolios. A case study of an electricity industry with coal, Combined Cycle Gas Turbines (CCGT), Open Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGT) and wind generation options that faces uncertain future fossil-fuel prices, carbon pricing, electricity demand and plant construction costs is presented to illustrate some of the key issues associated with growing wind penetrations. The case study uses half-hourly demand and wind generation data from South Eastern Australia, and regional estimates of new-build plant costs and characteristics. Results suggest that although wind generation generally increases overall industry costs, it reduces associated cost uncertainties and CO 2 emissions. However, there are some cases in which wind generation can reduce the overall costs of generation portfolios. The extent to which wind penetration affects industry expected costs and uncertainties depends on the level of carbon price and the conventional technology mix in the portfolios. - Highlights: ► A probabilistic portfolio analysis tool to assess generation portfolios with wind power. ► Explore the impacts of wind penetrations and carbon prices under uncertainties. ► Wind generation increases overall portfolio costs but reduces cost risks and emissions. ► The value of wind power depends on the carbon price and the technology mix. ► Complex interactions between wind penetration level and carbon pricing.

  2. SimWIND: A geospatial infrastructure model for optimizing wind power generation and transmission

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Phillips, Benjamin R.; Middleton, Richard S.

    2012-01-01

    Wind is a clean, enduring energy resource with the capacity to satisfy 20% or more of U.S. electricity demand. Presently, wind potential is limited by a paucity of electrical transmission lines and/or capacity between promising wind resources and primary load centers. We present the model SimWIND to address this shortfall. SimWIND is an integrated optimization model for the geospatial arrangement and cost minimization of wind-power generation–transmission–delivery infrastructure. Given a set of possible wind-farm sites, the model simultaneously determines (1) where and how much power to generate and (2) where to build new transmission infrastructure and with what capacity in order to minimize the cost for delivering a targeted amount of power to load. Costs and routing of transmission lines consider geographic and social constraints as well as electricity losses. We apply our model to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) Interconnection, considering scenarios that deliver up to 20 GW of new wind power. We show that SimWIND could potentially reduce ERCOT's projected ∼$5B transmission network upgrade line length and associated costs by 50%. These results suggest that SimWIND's coupled generation–transmission–delivery modeling approach could play a critical role in enhancing planning efforts and reducing costs for wind energy integration. - Highlights: ► Wind power is limited by transmission capacity between resources and demands. ► SimWIND is a coupled generation-transmission-delivery model for wind infrastructure. ► The model minimizes costs considering realistic transmission routing and networking. ► We show that SimWIND could save 50% of $5B costs for expanding the Texas grid. ► Results suggest SimWIND may play a critical role in enhancings wind planning efforts.

  3. Small Wind Turbine Technology Assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Avia Aranda, F.; Cruz Cruz, I.

    1999-01-01

    The result of the study carried out under the scope of the ATYCA project Test Plant of Wind Systems for Isolated Applications, about the state of art of the small wind turbine technology (wind turbines with swept area smaller than 40 m 2 ) is presented. The study analyzes the collected information on 60 models of wind turbines from 23 manufacturers in the worldwide market. Data from Chinese manufacturers, that have a large participation in the total number of small wind turbines in operation, are not included, due to the unavailability of the technical information. (Author) 15 refs

  4. Methodology for the determination of wind characteristics and assessment of wind energy potential in Túquerres - Nariño

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francisco Eraso Checa

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The world is living a steady increase in the electric power demand, an alternative power generation different to conventional is the renewable energy. With the appearance of the Law 1715, Colombia has an incentives policy for the integration of new projects in renewable energies. Because of that, is important to develop studies with real data in the field of the potential of renewable energy resources which can be implemented. This article presents the analysis of the wind generation potential of Túquerres Savanna, located in the department of Nariño. The potential was obtained from the measurement of the wind speed, during the period between the months of June and December of the year 2015. The data were analyzed statistically according to a measure of central tendency, frequency distribution and Weibull distribution for the normalization of scattered data; finally, the power density was calculated according to a horizontal axis wind turbine and the electrical generation potential of the area was simulated. The average wind speeds are 4,4 m/s and the power density founded is 3,47 W/m2.

  5. Assessment of Wind Turbine for Site-Specific Conditions using Probabilistic Methods

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Heras, Enrique Gómez de las; Gutiérrez, Roberto; Azagra, Elena

    2013-01-01

    turbines, helping to the decision making during the site assessment phase of wind farm designs. First, the design equation for the failure mode of interest is defined, where the loads associated to the site-specific wind conditions are compared with the design limits of the structural component. A limit...... be very dependent on the site. The uncertainties on the wind properties depend on issues like the available wind data, the quality of the measurement sensors, the type of terrain or the accuracy of the engineering models for horizontal and vertical spatial extrapolation. An example is included showing two...

  6. A Study of Wind Turbine Comprehensive Operational Assessment Model Based on EM-PCA Algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Minqiang; Xu, Bin; Zhan, Yangyan; Ren, Danyuan; Liu, Dexing

    2018-01-01

    To assess wind turbine performance accurately and provide theoretical basis for wind farm management, a hybrid assessment model based on Entropy Method and Principle Component Analysis (EM-PCA) was established, which took most factors of operational performance into consideration and reach to a comprehensive result. To verify the model, six wind turbines were chosen as the research objects, the ranking obtained by the method proposed in the paper were 4#>6#>1#>5#>2#>3#, which are completely in conformity with the theoretical ranking, which indicates that the reliability and effectiveness of the EM-PCA method are high. The method could give guidance for processing unit state comparison among different units and launching wind farm operational assessment.

  7. Towards realistic design of wind dams: An innovative approach to enhance wind potential

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tajeddin, Alireza; Fazelpour, Farivar

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • An innovative methodology to increase the wind potential. • Introducing new generation of wind dams and underground wind farms. • Reducing the environmental impacts of employing conventional wind farms. • An efficient method to employ low wind speeds. - Abstract: In an attempt to discover alternative energy sources to fossil fuels which are being depleted on the increase, Renewable Energy Sources (RES) have gained considerable attention in recent years. RESs are also represented as clean sources; emitting comparatively lower Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) emissions; thus, they are climate friendly. Among RESs, wind energy is one of the most abundant and increasingly cost-competitive energy resources, and it is becoming the fastest growing source of electricity in the world. Regarding the improvement of wind power, one of the key aspects that must be considered is achieving enhanced reliability and efficiency at once. In this paper, we introduced and applied an innovative method to make wind dam which is a new approach to wind farms’ site selection for production of electricity. The proposed method enhances the wind potential by means of a natural or artificial barrier such as a hill, and is supported by analytical expressions and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models. A systematic case study has been designed at a site near the city of Tehran, Iran, and an analytical method has been applied that includes meteorological data analysis, CFD modeling along with energy power and economic assessment.

  8. Fuzzy Stochastic Unit Commitment Model with Wind Power and Demand Response under Conditional Value-At-Risk Assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiafu Yin

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available With the increasing penetration of wind power and demand response integrated into the grid, the combined uncertainties from wind power and demand response have been a challenging concern for system operators. It is necessary to develop an approach to accommodate the combined uncertainties in the source side and load side. In this paper, the fuzzy stochastic conditional value-at-risk criterions are proposed as the risk measure of the combination of both wind power uncertainty and demand response uncertainty. To improve the computational tractability without sacrificing the accuracy, the fuzzy stochastic chance-constrained goal programming is proposed to transfer the fuzzy stochastic conditional value-at-risk to a deterministic equivalent. The operational risk of forecast error under fuzzy stochastic conditional value-at-risk assessment is represented by the shortage of reserve resource, which can be further divided into the load-shedding risk and the wind curtailment risk. To identify different priority levels for the different objective functions, the three-stage day-ahead unit commitment model is proposed through preemptive goal programming, in which the reliability requirement has the priority over the economic operation. Finally, a case simulation is performed on the IEEE 39-bus system to verify the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed model.

  9. Objective and subjective assessment of tonal components in noise from UK wind farm sites

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McKenzie, A.R.

    1997-01-01

    The level of any tonal components in the noise from a wind farm site can be quantified using objective analysis procedures. These procedures are, however, open to a certain amount of interpretation. an automated assessment procedure has, therefore, been developed which is appropriate to the needs of the wind turbine industry. This paper describes a study to compare the results of objective assessments carried out using this method with the results of carefully controlled subjective listening tests for samples of wind turbine noise from nine U.K. wind farm sites. (author)

  10. Offshore Wind Energy Cost Modeling Installation and Decommissioning

    CERN Document Server

    Kaiser, Mark J

    2012-01-01

    Offshore wind energy is one of the most promising and fastest growing alternative energy sources in the world. Offshore Wind Energy Cost Modeling provides a methodological framework to assess installation and decommissioning costs, and using examples from the European experience, provides a broad review of existing processes and systems used in the offshore wind industry. Offshore Wind Energy Cost Modeling provides a step-by-step guide to modeling costs over four sections. These sections cover: ·Background and introductory material, ·Installation processes and vessel requirements, ·Installation cost estimation, and ·Decommissioning methods and cost estimation.  This self-contained and detailed treatment of the key principles in offshore wind development is supported throughout by visual aids and data tables. Offshore Wind Energy Cost Modeling is a key resource for anyone interested in the offshore wind industry, particularly those interested in the technical and economic aspects of installation and decom...

  11. Advancements in Wind Integration Study Data Modeling: The Wind Integration National Dataset (WIND) Toolkit; Preprint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Draxl, C.; Hodge, B. M.; Orwig, K.; Jones, W.; Searight, K.; Getman, D.; Harrold, S.; McCaa, J.; Cline, J.; Clark, C.

    2013-10-01

    Regional wind integration studies in the United States require detailed wind power output data at many locations to perform simulations of how the power system will operate under high-penetration scenarios. The wind data sets that serve as inputs into the study must realistically reflect the ramping characteristics, spatial and temporal correlations, and capacity factors of the simulated wind plants, as well as be time synchronized with available load profiles. The Wind Integration National Dataset (WIND) Toolkit described in this paper fulfills these requirements. A wind resource dataset, wind power production time series, and simulated forecasts from a numerical weather prediction model run on a nationwide 2-km grid at 5-min resolution will be made publicly available for more than 110,000 onshore and offshore wind power production sites.

  12. Reliability Assessment of Wind Farm Electrical System Based on a Probability Transfer Technique

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hejun Yang

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The electrical system of a wind farm has a significant influence on the wind farm reliability and electrical energy yield. The disconnect switch installed in an electrical system cannot only improve the operating flexibility, but also enhance the reliability for a wind farm. Therefore, this paper develops a probabilistic transfer technique for integrating the electrical topology structure, the isolation operation of disconnect switch, and stochastic failure of electrical equipment into the reliability assessment of wind farm electrical system. Firstly, as the traditional two-state reliability model of electrical equipment cannot consider the isolation operation, so the paper develops a three-state reliability model to replace the two-state model for incorporating the isolation operation. In addition, a proportion apportion technique is presented to evaluate the state probability. Secondly, this paper develops a probabilistic transfer technique based on the thoughts that through transfer the unreliability of electrical system to the energy transmission interruption of wind turbine generators (WTGs. Finally, some novel indices for describing the reliability of wind farm electrical system are designed, and the variance coefficient of the designed indices is used as a convergence criterion to determine the termination of the assessment process. The proposed technique is applied to the reliability assessment of a wind farm with the different topologies. The simulation results show that the proposed techniques are effective in practical applications.

  13. Wind galleries: an instrument for environmental impact assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zunino, C.

    1998-01-01

    In the last decades wind galleries for non-aeronautic utilisation have proved to be a useful investigation tool in various fields, such as studies on environmental impact and risk assessment, associated with permanent or incidental release of harmful substances. In this framework the feasibility of a new installation has been evaluated in Italy, having as main target the reproduction of thermal stratification phenomena. The great deal of 'hazardous' industries, often in areas having a complex orography, as well as the high pollution levels in Italian cities, lead to the conclusion that a thermally stratified wind gallery might be an economically viable investment [it

  14. Seismic and wind vulnerability assessment for the GAR-13 global risk assessment

    OpenAIRE

    Yamín Lacouture, Luis Eduardo; Hurtado Chaparro, Alvaro Ivan; Barbat Barbat, Horia Alejandro; Cardona Arboleda, Omar Dario

    2014-01-01

    A general methodology to evaluate vulnerability functions suitable for a probabilistic global risk assessment is proposed. The methodology is partially based in the methodological approach of the Multi-hazard Loss Estimation Methodology (Hazus) developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The vulnerability assessment process considers the resolution, information and limitations established for both the hazard and exposure models adopted. Seismic and wind vulnerability function...

  15. Technology assessment of wind energy conversion systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Meier, B. W.; Merson, T. J.

    1980-09-01

    Environmental data for wind energy conversion systems (WECSs) have been generated in support of the Technology Assessment of Solar Energy (TASE) program. Two candidates have been chosen to characterize the WECS that might be deployed if this technology makes a significant contribution to the national energy requirements. One WECS is a large machine of 1.5-MW-rated capacity that can be used by utilities. The other WECS is a small machine that is characteristic of units that might be used to meet residential or small business energy requirements. Energy storage systems are discussed for each machine to address the intermittent nature of wind power. Many types of WECSs are being studied and a brief review of the technology is included to give background for choosing horizontal axis designs for this study. Cost estimates have been made for both large and small systems as required for input to the Strategic Environmental Assessment Simulation (SEAS) computer program. Material requirements, based on current generation WECSs, are discussed and a general discussion of environmental impacts associated with WECS deployment is presented.

  16. Wind energy potential assessment of Cameroon’s coastal regions for the installation of an onshore wind farm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nkongho Ayuketang Arreyndip

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available For the future installation of a wind farm in Cameroon, the wind energy potentials of three of Cameroon’s coastal cities (Kribi, Douala and Limbe are assessed using NASA average monthly wind data for 31 years (1983–2013 and compared through Weibull statistics. The Weibull parameters are estimated by the method of maximum likelihood, the mean power densities, the maximum energy carrying wind speeds and the most probable wind speeds are also calculated and compared over these three cities. Finally, the cumulative wind speed distributions over the wet and dry seasons are also analyzed. The results show that the shape and scale parameters for Kribi, Douala and Limbe are 2.9 and 2.8, 3.9 and 1.8 and 3.08 and 2.58, respectively. The mean power densities through Weibull analysis for Kribi, Douala and Limbe are 33.7 W/m2, 8.0 W/m2 and 25.42 W/m2, respectively. Kribi’s most probable wind speed and maximum energy carrying wind speed was found to be 2.42 m/s and 3.35 m/s, 2.27 m/s and 3.03 m/s for Limbe and 1.67 m/s and 2.0 m/s for Douala, respectively. Analysis of the wind speed and hence power distribution over the wet and dry seasons shows that in the wet season, August is the windiest month for Douala and Limbe while September is the windiest month for Kribi while in the dry season, March is the windiest month for Douala and Limbe while February is the windiest month for Kribi. In terms of mean power density, most probable wind speed and wind speed carrying maximum energy, Kribi shows to be the best site for the installation of a wind farm. Generally, the wind speeds at all three locations seem quite low, average wind speeds of all the three studied locations fall below 4.0m/s which is far below the cut-in wind speed of many modern wind turbines. However we recommend the use of low cut-in speed wind turbines like the Savonius for stand alone low energy needs

  17. Assessing the impact of marine wind farms on birds through movement modelling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masden, Elizabeth A; Reeve, Richard; Desholm, Mark; Fox, Anthony D; Furness, Robert W; Haydon, Daniel T

    2012-09-07

    Advances in technology and engineering, along with European Union renewable energy targets, have stimulated a rapid growth of the wind power sector. Wind farms contribute to carbon emission reductions, but there is a need to ensure that these structures do not adversely impact the populations that interact with them, particularly birds. We developed movement models based on observed avoidance responses of common eider Somateria mollissima to wind farms to predict, and identify potential measures to reduce, impacts. Flight trajectory data that were collected post-construction of the Danish Nysted offshore wind farm were used to parameterize competing models of bird movements around turbines. The model most closely fitting the observed data incorporated individual variation in the minimum distance at which birds responded to the turbines. We show how such models can contribute to the spatial planning of wind farms by assessing their extent, turbine spacing and configurations on the probability of birds passing between the turbines. Avian movement models can make new contributions to environmental assessments of wind farm developments, and provide insights into how to reduce impacts that can be identified at the planning stage.

  18. Remote Assessment of Lunar Resource Potential

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, G. Jeffrey

    1992-01-01

    Assessing the resource potential of the lunar surface requires a well-planned program to determine the chemical and mineralogical composition of the Moon's surface at a range of scales. The exploration program must include remote sensing measurements (from both Earth's surface and lunar orbit), robotic in situ analysis of specific places, and eventually, human field work by trained geologists. Remote sensing data is discussed. Resource assessment requires some idea of what resources will be needed. Studies thus far have concentrated on oxygen and hydrogen production for propellant and life support, He-3 for export as fuel for nuclear fusion reactors, and use of bulk regolith for shielding and construction materials. The measurement requirements for assessing these resources are given and discussed briefly.

  19. A Cyber-Based Data-Enabled Virtual Organization for Wind Load Effects on Civil Infrastructures: VORTEX-Winds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahsan Kareem

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Despite many advances in the area of wind effects on structures in recent decades, research has been traditionally conducted within limited resources scattered geographically. With the trend toward increasingly complex designs of civil infrastructure combined with the escalating potential for losses by extreme wind events, a new culture of research needs to be established based on innovative and collaborative solutions for better management of the impact of extreme wind events. To address this change, this paper presents a new paradigm of a multiscale cyber-based laboratory framework for the analysis/design, modeling, and simulation of wind load effects based on an ongoing collaborative cyberinfrastructure-based platform, Virtual Organization for Reducing the Toll of EXtreme Winds (VORTEX-Winds, https://vortex-winds.org, and discusses its current status since its inception in 2007 and ongoing developments. This collaborative framework as it evolves would enable a paradigm shift by offering advanced cyber-enabled modules (e-modules for accelerating advances in research and education to achieve improved understanding and better modeling of wind effects on structures. Accordingly, it will enhance wind community’s analysis and design capabilities to address next-generation challenges posed by wind. Through empowering those without computational or experimental resources, the e-modules will encompass a large set of subject areas and topics categorized as Database-enabled design, Full-scale/Field site data repository, Statistical/Stochastic toolboxes, Tele-experimentation, Uncertainty modeling, Damage assessment, and Computational platforms. This prototype will allow access to the individual e-module, while it is envisaged that next level of development in VORTEX-Winds will have the capability for an automated and integrated analysis/design through a nexus of e-modules. A highlight of the e-modules currently completed or in development is presented

  20. Research on Condition Assessment Method of Transmission Tower Under the Action of Strong Wind

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Ren-mou; An, Li-qiang; Zhang, Rong-lun; Wu, Jiong; Liang, Ya-feng

    2018-03-01

    Transmission towers are often subjected to the external damage of severe weather like strong wind and so on, which may cause the collapse due to the yield and fracture of the tower material. Aiming this issue, an assessment method was proposed in this paper to assess the operation condition of transmission towers under strong wind. With a reasonable assess index system established firstly, then the internal force of the tower material was solved and its stability was determined through the mechanical analysis of the transmission tower finite element model. Meanwhile, the condition risk level of the tower was finally determined by considering the difference among the influences of other factors like corrosion and loose of members, slope on the transmission tower through the analytic hierarchy process. The assessment method was applied to assess the wind-induced collapse of towers in 110kV Bao Yi II line in Wenchang City, Hainan Province, of which the result proves the method can assess the condition of transmission tower under strong wind and of guiding significance for improving the windproof capability of transmission towers.

  1. Assessment of resource availability and sustainability for ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The availability of resources and their suitability for subsistence and small-scale commercial fishers in South Africa were assessed and appropriate options for the management of resources recommended. Assessment of current resource utilization and recommendations for future subsistence and/or small-scale commercial ...

  2. Offshore Wind Energy Market Overview (Presentation)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Baring-Gould, I.

    2013-07-01

    This presentation describes the current international market conditions regarding offshore wind, including the breakdown of installation costs, how to reduce costs, and the physical siting considerations considered when planning offshore wind construction. The presentation offers several examples of international existing and planned offshore wind farm sites and compares existing international offshore resources with U.S. resources. The presentation covers future offshore wind trends and cites some challenges that the United States must overcome before it will be able to fully develop offshore wind sites.

  3. Nova Scotia wind integration study : final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2008-01-01

    An independent study was commissioned by the Nova Scotia Department of Energy to identify and assess the impacts of integrating large scale wind power generation into Nova Scotia's electric power system. The purpose of the study was to help Nova Scotia's efforts towards building its renewable energy supply, in order to secure a local energy resource and to protect the environment. This report provided an overview of Nova Scotia's electric power sector, including organizations involved; existing generation system; existing transmission system; renewable energy standards; Nova Scotia Power integrated resource plan; and 2007 renewable energy request for proposals. The major assumptions for the study that were discussed included system parameters; system capacity reserve requirements; expansion plans to 2020; and allocation of new wind generation by zone. Wind resource data and system dispatch modeling were also presented and transmission system modeling was outlined. This included a discussion of steady state reliability requirements; inputs to the load flow model; load flow study and contingency analysis; intra-province transmission congestion; and potential impacts on system security. The report also presented an approach to impact analysis and mitigation such as the impact on greenhouse gas and other air emissions and the impact of wind energy prices on system costs. It was concluded that one of the most important factors in evaluation of the economic impact of wind power integration is the forecasted fuel prices for the thermal units. If the fuel prices had varied significantly from the forecasted values, the study economic impact results could have been quite different. 55 tabs., 64 figs., 1 appendix

  4. Blowing in the Wind: A Review of Wind Power Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harris, Frank

    2014-01-01

    The use of wind as a replenishable energy resource has come back into favour in recent decades. It is much promoted as a viable, clean energy option that will help towards reducing CO[subscript 2] emissions in the UK. This article examines the history of wind power and considers the development of wind turbines, together with their economic,…

  5. Wind energy program overview

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1992-02-01

    This overview emphasizes the amount of electric power that could be provided by wind power rather than traditional fossil fuels. New wind power markets, advances in technology, technology transfer, and wind resources are some topics covered in this publication

  6. Developing wind energy in Ireland - consequences for our biodiversity and ecosystem services

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bourke, David; Stout, Jane

    2011-07-01

    Full text: In response to climate change, the EU has set a target to achieve 20% of energy from renewable sources by 2020 (Directive 2009/28/EC). Consequently, Ireland has set targets of 40, 10 and 12% of energy coming from renewable sources for electricity, transport and heat, respectively, by 2020. Wind energy is expected to contribute significantly to achieving these targets given Ireland.s large onshore and offshore wind potential. However, the potential impacts of these wind farm developments on Ireland.s biodiversity remain largely un quantified. The SIMBIOSYS (www.SIMBIOSYS.ie) project was set up to investigate the impacts of a range of sectors on biodiversity and ecosystem services, with part of the project.s focus on those measures that may help mitigate the effects of climate change. In this paper we aim to assess the potential positive and negative impacts of wind farms on Ireland.s marine and terrestrial biodiversity, highlighting potential conflicts concerning the spatial distribution of our wind and biodiversity resources. To help make these assessments an extensive review of the national and international scientific literature is used to highlight the potential positive and negative impacts of wind farm developments on biodiversity to date. Using GIS, spatial analyses are then used to quantify the extent to which wind resources and current and future wind farm developments overlap with biodiversity, using indicators such as Natura 2000 sites and Red Data List Plants. The outputs of these analyses are combined to help make recommendations on the sustainable future planning and management of wind farms in Ireland. Appropriate impact assessment and careful spatial planning will help ensure the direct benefits of green house gas emission reduction are maximised without compromising the protection of biodiversity in Ireland. (Author)

  7. Assessment of Ports for Offshore Wind Development in the United States

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Elkinton, Chris [DNV GL; Blatiak, Alicia; Ameen, Hafsa

    2014-03-21

    As offshore wind energy develops in the United States, port facilities will become strategic hubs in the offshore wind farm supply chain because all plant and transport logistics must transit through these facilities. Therefore, these facilities must provide suitable infrastructure to meet the specific requirements of the offshore wind industry. As a result, it is crucial that federal and state policy-makers and port authorities take effective action to position ports in the offshore wind value chain to take best advantage of their economic potential. The U.S. Department of Energy tasked the independent consultancy GL Garrad Hassan (GL GH) with carrying out a review of the current capability of U.S. ports to support offshore wind project development and an assessment of the challenges and opportunities related to upgrading this capability to support the growth of as many as 54 gigawatts of offshore wind installed in U.S. waters by 2030. The GL GH report and the open-access web-based Ports Assessment Tool resulting from this study will aid decision-makers in making informed decisions regarding the choice of ports for specific offshore projects, and the types of investments that would be required to make individual port facilities suitable to serve offshore wind manufacturing, installation and/or operations. The offshore wind industry in the United States is still in its infancy and this study finds that additional port facilities capable of supporting offshore wind projects are needed to meet the anticipated project build-out by 2030; however, no significant barriers exist to prevent the development of such facilities. Furthermore, significant port capabilities are in place today with purpose-build port infrastructure currently being built. While there are currently no offshore wind farms operating in the United States, much of the infrastructure critical to the success of such projects does exist, albeit in the service of other industries. This conclusion is based

  8. Social assessment of wind power. Part 4: International position and development conditions of the Danish wind turbine industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karnoee, P.; Joergensen, U.

    1995-12-01

    Today, the Danish wind turbine industry is positioned as a global market leader on a fast growing international market. The conclusion and observation of this report are: 1. The international market for wind power is likely to grow fast over the next 5 years (a self-reinforcing development) and the Danish wind turbine industry has the potential to increase export from the present DKK 2 billion per year to DKK 4 billion per year. 2. The leading market position is achieved after the collapse of the California market in 1987. The last four years have been export-driven growth together with the development of complementary assets to support a strong product technology. 3. The Danish position might be threatened by the new competitors, but it is our view that it takes 2-3 years before they have equivalent competences, and since the Danish companies are presently also mobilizing resources and competences it is not likely that they are easily outperformed. 4. A continued installation of wind power in Denmark is important to support the sustaining of the international position in the coming years. Through, it is not the volume size of the domestic market, but rather a stable market which serves as a home base for the industry. Not only for the reference and testing of new wind turbines, but also the knowledge networks between manufacturers and suppliers and between manufacturers and the Test Station for Windmills at Risoe. (EG) 51 refs

  9. Effects of distributing wind energy generation over Europe

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Giebel, G [Risoe National Lab., Wind Energy and Atmospheric Physics Dept., Roskilde (Denmark)

    1999-03-01

    Using data from 60 meteorological stations distributed all over Europe in conjunction with the National Grid Model (NGM) from the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, the effects of the large-scale distribution of wind energy generation are studied. In some regions of Europe, wind energy already covers a significant proportion of the electricity demand. But the intermittence of the wind resource is always a limiting factor when penetration levels are high. Studies for single countries have shown that distributing the generation over a large area reduces the variability of the output and hence makes wind energy more appealing to utilities, since the stability requirement of the network are easier to fulfil. The data are analysed in terms of absolute highs and lows, temporal and spatial correlations. To assess the financial benefits, the NGM is used to evaluate the match of electricity demand and generation as well as the possibel savings of fossil fuel in an electricity grid incorporating various capacities of wind energy generation. To assess the value of wind energy on a trans-national scale, the European plant mix is modelled, and the NGM is used to simulate the scheduling of these plants in the presence of different penetrations of wind energy. (au) EU-JOULE-3. 11 refs.

  10. The value of holding scarce wind resource—A cause of overinvestment in wind power capacity in China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Xuemei

    2013-01-01

    China's wind power capacity has increased dramatically in recent years, but about 30% of the installed capacity sits idle, so overinvestment in wind power capacity seems to be a serious problem. This paper explores reasons for the overinvestment. The economic analysis shows that, given uncertain future policy on wind power, it is optimal for power companies to invest more than the amount in a certain world. A part of the “overinvestment” has a real value, which can be interpreted as the value of holding scarce wind resource. This value exists because the wind-rich sites with convenient locations to connect to the grids are scarce resource, and also because the specific government policies that are essential for promoting wind power are uncertain in the future. This value should be taken into account in the investment decision, but it results in the phenomenon of “overinvestment”. The concept of the value of holding scarce resource can be generally applied to the resources that are scarce and for which the future policy is uncertain

  11. PV–wind hybrid power option for a low wind topography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhattacharjee, Subhadeep; Acharya, Shantanu

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Optimally harness the wind energy by unification of solar resource. • Analysis of PV–wind hybrid system with tangible experience. • Cost of generation and renewable fraction are $0.488/kWh and 0.90 respectively. • Maximum wind penetration is observed to be 32.75% with installed PV–wind system. • Indicative annual grid electricity conservation is 90%. - Abstract: Solar and wind are clean energy sources with enormous potential to alleviate grid dependence. The paper aims to optimally harness the wind resource with the support of solar energy through hybrid technology for a north-east Indian state Tripura (low wind topography). Techno-economic analysis of a photovoltaic (PV)-wind hybrid simulation model has been performed for small scale application in an educational building. The study also evaluates the tangible performance of a similar plant in practical condition of the site. It has emerged from the study that major energy generation is turning out from PV segment which is promising almost all round the year. Nonetheless, a considerable amount of wind power is found to be generated during half of the year when average PV power production is comparatively less. The cost of electricity from the simulation model is found to be $0.488/kWh while renewable fraction in the total electricity share is obtained to be 0.90. From the actual performance of the plant, maximum wind penetration is observed to be 32.75%

  12. Resource assessment/commercialization planning meeting

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    None

    1980-01-24

    The U.S. Department of Energy, Division of Geothermal Energy and Division of Geothermal Resource Management, sponsored a Resource Assessment/Commercialization Planning meeting in Salt Lake City on January 21-24, 1980. The meeting included presentations by state planning and resource teams from all DOE regions. An estimated 130 people representing federal, state and local agencies, industry and private developers attended.

  13. Sliding Window Technique for Calculating System LOLP Contributions of Wind Power Plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Milligan, M. R.

    2001-01-01

    Conventional electric power generation models do not typically recognize the probabilistic nature of the power variations from wind plants. Most models allow for an accurate hourly representation of wind power output, but do not incorporate any probabilistic assessment of whether the given level of wind power will vary from its expected value. The technique presented in this paper uses this variation to calculate an effective forced-outage rate for wind power plants (EFORW). Depending on the type of wind regime undergoing evaluation, the length and diurnal characteristics of a sliding time window can be adjusted so that the EFORW is based on an appropriate time scale. The algorithm allows us to calculate the loss-of-load probability (LOLP) on an hourly basis, fully incorporating the variability of the wind resource into the calculation. This makes it possible to obtain a more accurate assessment of reliability of systems that include wind generation when system reliability is a concern

  14. Final Project Report, Bristol Bay Native Corporation Wind and Hydroelectric Feasibility Study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vaught, Douglas J.

    2007-03-31

    The Bristol Bay Native Corporation (BBNC) grant project focused on conducting nine wind resource studies in eight communities in the Bristol Bay region of southwest Alaska and was administered as a collaborative effort between BBNC, the Alaska Energy Authority, Alaska Village Electric Cooperative, Nushagak Electric Cooperative (NEC), Naknek Electric Association (NEA), and several individual village utilities in the region. BBNC’s technical contact and the project manager for this study was Douglas Vaught, P.E., of V3 Energy, LLC, in Eagle River, Alaska. The Bristol Bay region of Alaska is comprised of 29 communities ranging in size from the hub community of Dillingham with a population of approximately 3,000 people, to a few Native Alaska villages that have a few tens of residents. Communities chosen for inclusion in this project were Dillingham, Naknek, Togiak, New Stuyahok, Kokhanok, Perryville, Clark’s Point, and Koliganek. Selection criteria for conduction of wind resource assessments in these communities included population and commercial activity, utility interest, predicted Class 3 or better wind resource, absence of other sources of renewable energy, and geographical coverage of the region. Beginning with the first meteorological tower installation in October 2003, wind resource studies were completed at all sites with at least one year, and as much as two and a half years, of data. In general, the study results are very promising for wind power development in the region with Class 6 winds measured in Kokhanok; Class 4 winds in New Stuyahok, Clark’s Point, and Koliganek; Class 3 winds in Dillingham, Naknek, and Togiak; and Class 2 winds in Perryville. Measured annual average wind speeds and wind power densities at the 30 meter level varied from a high of 7.87 meters per second and 702 watts per square meter in Kokhanok (Class 6 winds), to a low of 4.60 meters per second and 185 watts per square meter in Perryville (Class 2 winds).

  15. Siting wind farms in and around forests

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Douglas, N. [Natural Power Consultants, Vancouver, BC (Canada)

    2010-07-01

    This PowerPoint presentation discussed methods of assessing the impact of trees on wind resources. Turbulence is generated and also absorbed by trees. Disturbances generated at tree level are then transported upwards and down-wind by the wind. The turbulence induced by trees can be felt kilometers downwind of forests at wind turbine hub heights. Wind speeds can be less than predicted, and significant over-estimations can occur with modelled results. The effects of high shear and high turbulence can also have an impact on power curve performance and lead to higher levels of mechanical stress. A SCADA analysis was used to demonstrate the impact of forests on power curves. Wind power predictions near forests can be optimized by using a full year of data capture at hub height, full rotor measurements, and a consideration of seasonal variations. Accurate tree maps are needed to determine the effects of trees on wind shear. Various forestry scenarios were modelled to demonstrate the effects of forestry management over time. tabs., figs.

  16. Assessing the Future of Distributed Wind: Opportunities for Behind-the-Meter Projects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lantz, Eric [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Sigrin, Benjamin [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Gleason, Michael [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Preus, Robert [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Baring-Gould, Ian [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2016-11-01

    Wind power is one of the fastest growing sources of new electricity generation in the United States. Cumulative installed capacity was more than 74,000 megawatts (MW) at year-end 2015 and wind power supplied 4.7% of total 2015 U.S. electricity generation. Despite the growth of the wind power industry, the distributed wind market has remained limited. Cumulative installations of distributed wind through 2015 totaled 934 MW. This first-of-a-kind exploratory analysis characterizes the future opportunity for behind-the-meter distributed wind, serving primarily rural or suburban homes, farms, and manufacturing facilities. This work focuses only on the grid-connected, behind-the-meter subset of the broader distributed wind market. We estimate this segment to be approximately half of the 934 MW of total installed distributed wind capacity at year-end 2015. Potential from other distributed wind market segments including systems installed in front of the meter (e.g., community wind) and in remote, off-grid locations is not assessed in this analysis and therefore, would be additive to results presented here. These other distributed wind market segments are not considered in this initial effort because of their relatively unique economic and market attributes.

  17. Worldwide wind/diesel hybrid power system study: Potential applications and technical issues

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    King, W.R.; Johnson, B.L. III (Science Applications International Corp., McLean, VA (USA))

    1991-04-01

    The world market potential for wind/diesel hybrid technology is a function of the need for electric power, the availability of sufficient wind resource to support wind/diesel power, and the existence of buyers with the financial means to invest in the technology. This study includes data related to each of these three factors. This study does not address market penetration, which would require analysis of application specific wind/diesel economics. Buyer purchase criteria, which are vital to assessing market penetration, are discussed only generally. Countries were screened for a country-specific market analysis based on indicators of need and wind resource. Both developed countries and less developed countries'' (LDCs) were screened for wind/diesel market potential. Based on the results of the screening, ten countries showing high market potential were selected for more extensive market analyses. These analyses provide country-specific market data to guide wind/diesel technology developers in making design decisions that will lead to a competitive product. Section 4 presents the country-specific data developed for these analyses, including more extensive wind resource characterization, application-specific market opportunities, business conditions, and energy market characterizations. An attempt was made to identify the potential buyers with ability to pay for wind/diesel technology required to meet the application-specific market opportunities identified for each country. Additionally, the country-specific data are extended to corollary opportunities in countries not covered by the study. Section 2 gives recommendations for wind/diesel research based on the findings of the study. 86 refs.

  18. Worldwide wind/diesel hybrid power system study: Potential applications and technical issues

    Science.gov (United States)

    King, W. R.; Johnson, B. L., III

    1991-04-01

    The world market potential for wind/diesel hybrid technology is a function of the need for electric power, the availability of sufficient wind resource to support wind/diesel power, and the existence of buyers with the financial means to invest in the technology. This study includes data related to each of these three factors. This study does not address market penetration, which would require analysis of application specific wind/diesel economics. Buyer purchase criteria, which are vital to assessing market penetration, are discussed only generally. Countries were screened for a country-specific market analysis based on indicators of need and wind resource. Both developed countries and less developed countries (LDCs) were screened for wind/diesel market potential. Based on the results of the screening, ten countries showing high market potential were selected for more extensive market analyses. These analyses provide country-specific market data to guide wind/diesel technology developers in making design decisions that will lead to a competitive product. Section 4 presents the country-specific data developed for these analyses, including more extensive wind resource characterization, application-specific market opportunities, business conditions, and energy market characterizations. An attempt was made to identify the potential buyers with ability to pay for wind/diesel technology required to meet the application-specific market opportunities identified for each country. Additionally, the country-specific data are extended to corollary opportunities in countries not covered by the study. Section 2 gives recommendations for wind/diesel research based on the findings of the study.

  19. Effect of wind turbine wakes on summer-time wind profiles in the US Great Plains

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rhodes, M. E.; Lundquist, J. K.; Aitken, M.

    2011-12-01

    Wind energy is steadily becoming a significant source of grid electricity in the United States, and the Midwestern United States provides one of the nation's richest wind resources. This study examines the effect of wind turbine wakes on the wind profile in central Iowa. Data were collected using a coherent Doppler LiDAR system located approximately 2.5 rotor diameters north of a row of modern multi-MW wind turbine generators. The prevailing wind direction was from the South allowing the LiDAR to capture wind turbine wake properties; however, a number of periods existed where the LiDAR captured undisturbed flow. The LiDAR system reliably obtained readings up to 200 m above ground level (AGL), spanning the entire rotor disk (~40 m to 120 m AGL) which far surpasses the information provided by traditional wind resource assessment instrumentation. We extract several relevant parameters from the lidar data including: horizontal wind speed, vertical velocity, horizontal turbulence intensity, wind shear, and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE). Each time period at a particular LiDAR measurement height was labeled "wake" or "undisturbed" based on the wind direction at that height. Wake and undisturbed data were averaged separately to create a time-height cross-section averaged day for each parameter. Significant differences between wake and undisturbed data emerge. During the day, wake conditions experience larger values of TKE within the altitudes of the turbine rotor disk while TKE values above the rotor disk are similar between waked and undisturbed conditions. Furthermore, the morning transition of TKE in the atmospheric boundary layer commences earlier during wake conditions than in undisturbed conditions, and the evening decay of TKE persists longer during wake conditions. Waked wind shear is consistently greater than undisturbed periods at the edges of the wind turbine rotor disk (40m & 120m AGL), but especially so during the night where wind shear values during wake

  20. Offshore Resource Assessment and Design Conditions: A Data Requirements and Gaps Analysis for Offshore Renewable Energy Systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Elliott, Dennis [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Frame, Caitlin [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Washington, DC (United States); Gill, Carrie [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Washington, DC (United States); Hanson, Howard [Florida Atlantic Univ., Boca Raton, FL (United States); Moriarty, Patrick [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Powell, Mark [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Washington, DC (United States); Shaw, William J. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Wilczak, Jim [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Washington, DC (United States); Wynne, Jason [Energetics, Columbia, MD (United States)

    2012-03-01

    The offshore renewable energy industry requires accurate meteorological and oceanographic (“metocean”) data for evaluating the energy potential, economic viability, and engineering requirements of offshore renewable energy projects. It is generally recognized that currently available metocean data, instrumentation, and models are not adequate to meet all of the stakeholder needs on a national scale. Conducting wind and wave resource assessments and establishing load design conditions requires both interagency collaboration as well as valuable input from experts in industry and academia. Under the Department of Energy and Department of Interior Memorandum of Understanding, the Resource Assessment and Design Condition initiative supports collaborative national efforts by adding to core atmospheric and marine science knowledge relevant to offshore energy development. Such efforts include a more thorough understanding and data collection of key metocean phenomena such as wind velocity and shear; low-level jets; ocean, tidal, and current velocities; wave characteristics; geotechnical data relating to surface and subsurface characteristics; seasonal and diurnal variations; and the interaction among these conditions. Figure 1 presents a graphical representation of some metocean phenomena that can impact offshore energy systems. This document outlines the metocean observations currently available; those that are not available; and those that require additional temporal-spatial coverage, resolution, or processing for offshore energy in an effort to gather agreed-upon, needed observations.

  1. Adequacy assessment of composite generation and transmission systems incorporating wind energy conversion systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Yi

    The development and utilization of wind energy for satisfying electrical demand has received considerable attention in recent years due to its tremendous environmental, social and economic benefits, together with public support and government incentives. Electric power generation from wind energy behaves quite differently from that of conventional sources. The fundamentally different operating characteristics of wind energy facilities therefore affect power system reliability in a different manner than those of conventional systems. The reliability impact of such a highly variable energy source is an important aspect that must be assessed when the wind power penetration is significant. The focus of the research described in this thesis is on the utilization of state sampling Monte Carlo simulation in wind integrated bulk electric system reliability analysis and the application of these concepts in system planning and decision making. Load forecast uncertainty is an important factor in long range planning and system development. This thesis describes two approximate approaches developed to reduce the number of steps in a load duration curve which includes load forecast uncertainty, and to provide reasonably accurate generating and bulk system reliability index predictions. The developed approaches are illustrated by application to two composite test systems. A method of generating correlated random numbers with uniform distributions and a specified correlation coefficient in the state sampling method is proposed and used to conduct adequacy assessment in generating systems and in bulk electric systems containing correlated wind farms in this thesis. The studies described show that it is possible to use the state sampling Monte Carlo simulation technique to quantitatively assess the reliability implications associated with adding wind power to a composite generation and transmission system including the effects of multiple correlated wind sites. This is an important

  2. Cumulative effects of wind turbines. Volume 2: Report on qualitative public attitude research in mid-Wales

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2000-07-01

    This report summarises the results of research to develop a planning tool for assessing the cumulative effect of wind turbines carried out in Montgomeryshire through contact with those involved in wind farms, and those living near and further away from the wind turbine arrays. Topics examined included people's feeling about wind farms, noise, experience with wind farm developers, availability of related jobs, awareness of income to farmers from wind farms, developers' contributions to local funds, awareness of government policy, appreciation of wind as a resource, and the effects on tourism.

  3. Cumulative effects of wind turbines. Volume 2: Report on qualitative public attitude research in mid-Wales

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2000-07-01

    This report summarises the results of research to develop a planning tool for assessing the cumulative effect of wind turbines carried out in Montgomeryshire through contact with those involved in wind farms, and those living near and further away from the wind turbine arrays. Topics examined included people's feeling about wind farms, noise, experience with wind farm developers, availability of related jobs, awareness of income to farmers from wind farms, developers' contributions to local funds, awareness of government policy, appreciation of wind as a resource, and the effects on tourism.

  4. Implementation of wind power in the Norwegian market; the reason why some of the best wind resources in Europe were not utilised by 2010

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blindheim, Bernt

    2013-01-01

    Norway has some of the best wind resources in Europe. In 1999, the Norwegian Parliament committed to attain an annual onshore wind power production goal of 3.0 TWh by 2010; however, in 2010, onshore wind power production measured only 1.0 TWh. This article discusses the reasons that this goal was not achieved. The analysis addresses the key figures on the strategic, tactical and operational levels. This model is combined with a time line that seeks to define when different actors should have secured concessions and funding to achieve the goal. After introducing the time line, a list of questions is introduced for these key actors. The three-level model, the time line and the questions constitute the analytical framework. Explanations for the failure to achieve the goal may be identified on all three levels. However, the primary explanatory factors were political uncertainty in the support scheme and wind power's role in the energy market in general; both of these factors are identified on the strategic level. Uncertainty on the strategic level influenced the lower levels, which led to bottlenecks in the concession process and jittery investors who thought that the risk of investment in wind power was too high. - Highlights: • Implementation of wind power in the Norwegian energy system up to 2010. • The concession process, the support scheme and the marked players are considered. • Uncertainty about the support scheme slowed down the implementation process. • The concession process has been a bottleneck. • The support scheme has only to a certain degree trigged investments

  5. Potential Offshore Wind Energy Areas in California: An Assessment of Locations, Technology, and Costs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Musial, Walter [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Beiter, Philipp [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Tegen, Suzanne [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Smith, Aaron [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2016-12-01

    This report summarizes a study of possible offshore wind energy locations, technologies, and levelized cost of energy in the state of California between 2015 and 2030. The study was funded by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the federal agency responsible for regulating renewable energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf. It is based on reference wind energy areas where representative technology and performance characteristics were evaluated. These reference areas were identified as sites that were suitable to represent offshore wind cost and technology based on physical site conditions, wind resource quality, known existing site use, and proximity to necessary infrastructure. The purpose of this study is to assist energy policy decision-making by state utilities, independent system operators, state government officials and policymakers, BOEM, and its key stakeholders. The report is not intended to serve as a prescreening exercise for possible future offshore wind development.

  6. WIND ENERGY – ECOSUSTAINABILITY ENGINEERING SOLUTION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roxana Gabriela POPA

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Renewables provides increased safety energy supply and limiting imports of energy resources, interms of sustainable economic development. The new requirements for sustainable development have determinedthe world to put the issue of energy production methods and increase the share of energy produced fromrenewable energy. This paper presents the history of wind power, advantages and disadvantages of renewableenergy, particularly wind energy as an alternative source of energy. Windmills can be horizontal axis or verticalaxis Savonius and Darrieus rotor. Latest innovations allow operation of variable speed wind turbines, or turbinespeed control based on wind speed. Wind energy is considered one of the most sustainable choices betweenvariants future wind resources are immense.

  7. Sustainable use of marine resources through offshore wind and mussel farm co-location

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Di Tullio, Giacomo R.; Mariani, Patrizio; Benassai, Guido

    2018-01-01

    wind farms and open-water mussel cultivation. An index of co-location sustainability (SI) was developed based on the application of MCE technique constructed with physical and biological parameters on the basis of remote-sensing data. The relevant physical factors considered were wind velocity, depth...... range, concerning the site location for energy production, and sea surface temperature anomaly. The biological variables used were Chlorofill-a (as a measurement of the productivity) and Particle Organic Carbon(POC) concentration, in order to assess their influence on the probable benefits and complete...

  8. Natural resource damage assessments: The second generation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Luthi, R.; Burlington, L.; Reinharz, E.; Shutler, S.

    1993-01-01

    The Damage Assessment Regulations Team (DART), Office of General Counsel, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has focused on developing natural resource damage assessment regulations for oil pollution in navigable waters. These procedures may lower the transaction costs of assessments, encourage joint cooperative assessments, simplify most assessments and provide technical guidance for conducting assessments. DART is developing regulations for the assessment of damages due to injuries related to oil spills under the Oil pollution Act of 1990. These regulations will involve coordination, restoration and economic valuation. NOAA encourages federal, state, tribal and foreign trustees, to develop prespill plans. Coordination with response agencies assures protection of important natural resources. The regulations provide an open record, which becomes the basis for judicial review. Various methods being developed to assess damages for injuries to natural resources include: compensation formulas for spills under 50,000 gallons of oil, the Type A model, expedited damage assessment (EDA) procedures, and comprehensive damage assessment (CDA) procedures which can be used for spills of various sizes. These procedures provide trustees with a choice for assessing natural resource damages to each oil spill. NOAA is emphasizing the importance of restoration. Restoration plans will define project goals and objectives, establish procedures and methods for site restoration, and define the approach based on sound science. Finally, numerous economic methods are identified to calculate the lost or diminished use as passive use of the affected resources

  9. Study of applying a hybrid standalone wind-photovoltaic generation system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aissa Dahmani

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is the study of applying a hybrid system wind/photovoltaic to supply a community in southern Algeria. Diesel generators are always used to provide such remote regions with energy. Using renewable energy resources is a good alternative to overcome such pollutant generators. Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable (HOMER software is used to determine the economic feasibility of the proposed configuration. Assessment of renewable resources consisting in wind and solar potentials, load profile determination and sensitivity of different parameters analysis were performed. The cost of energy (COE of 0.226 $/kWh is very competitive with those found in literature.

  10. Assessment of C-Type Darrieus Wind Turbine Under Low Wind Speed Condition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Misaran, M. S.; Rahman, Md. M.; Muzammil, W. K.; Ismail, M. A.

    2017-07-01

    Harvesting wind energy in in a low wind speed region is deem un-economical if not daunting task. Study shows that a minimum cut in speed of 3.5 m/s is required to extract a meaningful wind energy for electricity while a mean speed of 6 m/s is preferred. However, in Malaysia the mean speed is at 2 m/s with certain potential areas having 3 m/s mean speed. Thus, this work aims to develop a wind turbine that able to operate at lower cut-in speed and produce meaningful power for electricity generation. A C-type Darrieus blade is selected as it shows good potential to operate in arbitrary wind speed condition. The wind turbine is designed and fabricated in UMS labs while the performance of the wind turbine is evaluated in a simulated wind condition. Test result shows that the wind turbine started to rotate at 1 m/s compared to a NACA 0012 Darrieus turbine that started to rotate at 3 m/s. The performance of the turbine shows that it have good potential to be used in an intermittent arbitrary wind speed condition as well as low mean wind speed condition.

  11. China's wind power industry: Policy support, technological achievements, and emerging challenges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Zhongying; Qin, Haiyan; Lewis, Joanna I.

    2012-01-01

    Since 2005 the Chinese wind power technology industry has developed rapidly, with China becoming the largest installer of wind power capacity in the world in 2010. This paper reviews the policy system implemented in China to support the wind power industry, centered on China's 2005 Renewable Energy Law. It examines the industry's achievements over the past two decades, including the development of wind power technology and equipment, the utilization of China's wind power resources, and the cost reductions achieved. It then explores the obstacles affecting the ongoing sustainability of the Chinese wind industry, including regulatory barriers, grid integration challenges, and challenges to continued technological innovation. It recommends that integration challenges be addressed through policy reforms, establishing interconnection standards, and creating predictability with forecasting and storage; that market signals be established with long-term development goals and pricing reforms; and that industry limitations be addressed with targeted R and D, improved wind resource assessment and transparency, domestic and international collaborations, and the cultivation of a skilled workforce. - Highlights: ► Review the policy system and the achievements of Chinese wind industry. ► Analyze the obstacles affecting the sustainability of the industry. ► Provide recommendations for how China can address these obstacles.

  12. A statistical investigation of wind characteristics and wind energy potential based on the Weibull and Rayleigh models in Rwanda

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Safari, Bonfils; Gasore, Jimmy [Department of Physics, National University of Rwanda, P.O. Box 117, Huye, South Province (Rwanda)

    2010-12-15

    A wind energy system converts the kinetic energy of the wind into mechanical or electrical energy that can be harnessed for practical uses and transform the economy of rural areas where access to water and electricity is very restricted and industry is almost nonexistent in most of the developing countries like Rwanda. Assessing wind power potential for a location is an imperative requirement before making a decision for the installation of windmills or a wind electric generator and evaluating plans for relating projects. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the potential of wind resource in Rwanda and to constitute a database for the users of the wind power. A time series of hourly daily measured wind speed and wind direction for the period between 1974 and 1993 on five main Rwandan meteorological stations was provided by the National Meteorology Department. Statistical methods applying Weibull and Rayleigh distribution were presented to evaluate the wind speed characteristics and the wind power potential at a height of 10 m above ground level using hourly monthly average data. Those characteristics were extrapolated for higher levels in altitude. The results give a global picture of the distribution of the wind potential in different locations of Rwanda. (author)

  13. Wind Generator & Biomass No-draft Gasification Hybrid

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hein, Matthew R.

    The premise of this research is that underutilized but vast intermittent renewable energy resources, such as wind, can become more market competitive by coupling with storable renewable energy sources, like biomass; thereby creating a firm capacity resource. Specifically, the Midwest state of South Dakota has immense wind energy potential that is not used because of economic and logistic barriers of electrical transmission or storage. Coupling the state's intermittent wind resource with another of the state's energy resources, cellulosic non-food biomass, by using a wind generator and no-draft biomass gasification hybrid system will result in a energy source that is both firm and storable. The average energy content of common biomass feedstock was determined, 14.8 MJ/kg (7.153 Btu/lb), along with the assumed typical biomass conversion efficiency of the no-draft gasifier, 65%, so that an average electrical energy round trip efficiency (RTE) of 214% can be expected (i.e. One unit of wind electrical energy can produce 2.14 kWh of electrical energy stored as syngas.) from a wind generator and no-draft biomass gasification system. Wind characteristics are site specific so this analysis utilizes a synthetic wind resource to represent a statistically sound gross representation of South Dakota's wind regime based on data from the Wind Resource Assessment Network (WRAN) locations. A synthetic wind turbine generated from common wind turbine power curves and scaled to 1-MW rated capacity was utilized for this analysis in order to remove equipment bias from the results. A standard 8,760-hour BIN Analysis model was constructed within HOMER, powerful simulation software developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to model the performance of renewable power systems. It was found that the optimum configuration on a per-megawatt-transmitted basis required a wind generator (wind farm) rated capacity of 3-MW with an anticipated annual biomass feedstock of 26,132 GJ

  14. Wind-Climate Estimation Based on Mesoscale and Microscale Modeling: Statistical-Dynamical Downscaling for Wind Energy Applications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Badger, Jake; Frank, Helmut; Hahmann, Andrea N.

    2014-01-01

    This paper demonstrates that a statistical dynamical method can be used to accurately estimate the wind climate at a wind farm site. In particular, postprocessing of mesoscale model output allows an efficient calculation of the local wind climate required for wind resource estimation at a wind...

  15. Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat Use and Population Demographics at the Simpson Ridge Wind Resource Area, Carbon County, Wyoming

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gregory D. Johnson; Chad W. LeBeau; Ryan Nielsen; Troy Rintz; Jamey Eddy; Matt Holloran

    2012-03-27

    This study was conducted to obtain baseline data on use of the proposed Simpson Ridge Wind Resource Area (SRWRA) in Carbon County, Wyoming by greater sage-grouse. The first two study years were designed to determine pre-construction seasonally selected habitats and population-level vital rates (productivity and survival). The presence of an existing wind energy facility in the project area, the PacifiCorp Seven Mile Hill (SMH) project, allowed us to obtain some information on initial sage-grouse response to wind turbines the first two years following construction. To our knowledge these are the first quantitative data on sage-grouse response to an existing wind energy development. This report presents results of the first two study years (April 1, 2009 through March 30, 2011). This study was selected for continued funding by the National Wind Coordinating Collaborative Sage-Grouse Collaborative (NWCC-SGC) and has been ongoing since March 30, 2011. Future reports summarizing results of this research will be distributed through the NWCC-SGC. To investigate population trends through time, we determined the distribution and numbers of males using leks throughout the study area, which included a 4-mile radius buffer around the SRWRA. Over the 2-year study, 116 female greater sage-grouse were captured by spotlighting and use of hoop nets on roosts surrounding leks during the breeding period. Radio marked birds were located anywhere from twice a week to once a month, depending on season. All radio-locations were classified to season. We developed predictor variables used to predict success of fitness parameters and relative probability of habitat selection within the SRWRA and SMH study areas. Anthropogenic features included paved highways, overhead transmission lines, wind turbines and turbine access roads. Environmental variables included vegetation and topography features. Home ranges were estimated using a kernel density estimator. We developed resource selection

  16. Avian risk behavior and fatalities at the Altamont Wind Resource Area: March 1998 - February 1999

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thelander, C.; Rugge, L.

    2000-05-08

    Since 1981, more than 7,000 wind turbines have been installed in the Altamont Wind Resource Area in north-central California. Currently, about 5,000 turbines are operating. Past research efforts demonstrated that wind turbines frequently kill birds, especially raptors. Little is known about the specific flight and perching behaviors by birds near wind turbines. A better understanding of these interactions may one day yield insights on how to minimize bird fatalities. This Phase 1 progress report summarizes research findings obtained at 20 study plots totaling 785 turbines of various configurations and conducted between March 1998 and February 1999. The authors examined bird use and behaviors and collected data on fatalities at the same turbines throughout the course of the surveys. They completed 745 30-minute point counts (1,702 bird observations) that quantified bird risk behaviors and bird use of the study plots. The four most frequently observed bird species were red-tailed hawks, common ravens, turkey vultures, and golden eagles. During the same period, the authors recorded 95 bird fatalities. Raptors represent 51% (n=49) of the kills found. The data indicate that the relative abundance of species observed does not predict the relative frequency of fatalities per species. Phase II of the research is underway.

  17. Avian risk behavior and fatalities at the Altamont Wind Resource Area: March 1998 - February 1999

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thelander, C.; Rugge, L.

    2000-01-01

    Since 1981, more than 7,000 wind turbines have been installed in the Altamont Wind Resource Area in north-central California. Currently, about 5,000 turbines are operating. Past research efforts demonstrated that wind turbines frequently kill birds, especially raptors. Little is known about the specific flight and perching behaviors by birds near wind turbines. A better understanding of these interactions may one day yield insights on how to minimize bird fatalities. This Phase 1 progress report summarizes research findings obtained at 20 study plots totaling 785 turbines of various configurations and conducted between March 1998 and February 1999. The authors examined bird use and behaviors and collected data on fatalities at the same turbines throughout the course of the surveys. They completed 745 30-minute point counts (1,702 bird observations) that quantified bird risk behaviors and bird use of the study plots. The four most frequently observed bird species were red-tailed hawks, common ravens, turkey vultures, and golden eagles. During the same period, the authors recorded 95 bird fatalities. Raptors represent 51% (n=49) of the kills found. The data indicate that the relative abundance of species observed does not predict the relative frequency of fatalities per species. Phase II of the research is underway

  18. Renewable energy and sustainable communities: Alaska's wind generator experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Konkel, R Steven

    2013-01-01

    better understanding wind energy potential through resource assessments and new tools for detailed feasibility and project planning, need for comprehensive monitoring and data analysis, and state funding requirements and opportunity costs. The energy policy choices ahead for Alaska will have important implications for Arctic population health, especially for those villages whose relatively small size and remote locations make energy a key component of subsistence lifestyles and community sustainability. Wind generation can contribute to meeting renewable energy goals and is a particularly important resource for rural and remote Alaskan communities currently dependent on diesel fuel for generating electricity and heat.

  19. Assessing U.S. coal resources and reserves

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaffer, Brian N.

    2017-09-27

    The U.S. Coal Resources and Reserves Assessment Project, as part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Energy Resources Program, conducts systematic, geology-based, regional assessments of significant coal beds in major coal basins in the United States. These assessments detail the quantity, quality, location, and economic potential of the Nation’s remaining coal resources and reserves and provide objective scientific information that assists in the formulation of energy strategies, environmental policies, land-use management practices, and economic projections.

  20. Financing wind projects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Manson, J.

    2006-01-01

    This presentation reviewed some of the partnership opportunities available from GE Energy. GE Energy's ecomagination commitment has promised to double research investment, make customers true partners and reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs). GE Energy's renewable energy team provides a broad range of financial products, and has recently funded 30 wind farms and 2 large solar projects. The company has a diverse portfolio of technology providers and wind regimes, and is increasing their investment in technology. GE Energy recognizes that the wind industry is growing rapidly and has received increased regulatory support that is backed by strong policy and public support. It is expected that Canada will have 3006 wind projects either planned or under construction by 2007. According to GE Energy, successful wind financing is dependent on the location of the site and its wind resources, as well as on the wind developer's power sales agreement. The success of a wind project is also determined by clear financing goals. Site-specific data is needed to determine the quality of wind resource, and off-site data can also be used to provide validation. Proximity to load centres will help to minimize capital costs. Power sales agreements should be based on the project's realistic net capacity factor as well as on the cost of the turbines. The economics of many wind farms is driven by the size of the turbines used. Public consultations are also needed to ensure the success of wind power projects. It was concluded that a good partner will have staying power in the wind power industry, and will understand the time-lines and needs that are peculiar to wind energy developers. refs., tabs., figs

  1. Uranium resource assessments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1981-01-01

    The objective of this investigation is to examine what is generally known about uranium resources, what is subject to conjecture, how well do the explorers themselves understand the occurrence of uranium, and who are the various participants in the exploration process. From this we hope to reach a better understanding of the quality of uranium resource estimates as well as the nature of the exploration process. The underlying questions will remain unanswered. But given an inability to estimate precisely our uranium resources, how much do we really need to know. To answer this latter question, the various Department of Energy needs for uranium resource estimates are examined. This allows consideration of whether or not given the absence of more complete long-term supply data and the associated problems of uranium deliverability for the electric utility industry, we are now threatened with nuclear power plants eventually standing idle due to an unanticipated lack of fuel for their reactors. Obviously this is of some consequence to the government and energy consuming public. The report is organized into four parts. Section I evaluates the uranium resource data base and the various methodologies of resource assessment. Part II describes the manner in which a private company goes about exploring for uranium and the nature of its internal need for resource information. Part III examines the structure of the industry for the purpose of determining the character of the industry with respect to resource development. Part IV arrives at conclusions about the emerging pattern of industrial behavior with respect to uranium supply and the implications this has for coping with national energy issues

  2. Assessment of the impact of frequency support on DFIG wind turbine loads

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Barahona Garzón, Braulio; You, Rui; Hansen, Anca Daniela

    2013-01-01

    This study presents models and tools for the assessment of the impact that providing frequency support has on doubly-fed generator (DFIG) wind turbine structural loads and drive train. The focus is on primary frequency support, aiming at quantifying the impact on wind turbines acting as frequency...... code and electrical models. In this simulation framework, the impact that power system conditions can have on wind turbines, and vice versa the support that wind turbines can offer to the power system can be investigated....... containment reserve and providing inertial response. The sensitivity of wind turbine load indicators—load duration- distribution and maximum load values—to inertial response control actions and different torsional models of drive train is investigated. The analysis is done by co-simulations of an aeroelastic...

  3. Study of the French wind sector: assessment, prospective, and strategy. Final report + Synthesis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bellini, Robert; Berrou, Yolene; Blot, Jean-Francois; Bodiguel, Aude; Callonnec, Gael; Cals, Guilain; Eyang Mbeng, Rudy; Fiol, Jack; Galiano, Mila; Gerard, Rolland; Gerson, Raphael; Guenard, Vincent; Guillot, Frederic; Guyet, Samy; Khebchache, Bouzid; Marchal, David; Parrouffe, Jean-Michel; Puygrenier, Samuel; Roger, Christophe; Furois, Timothee; Lejzerzon, Victoire; Mouhamad, Sakina; Orta, Louis; Glita, Marc; Meteyer, Herve; Plante, Ludovic; Duclos, Paul; Lettry, Marion; Mathieu, Mathilde; Langlois, Pierre-Albert; Lioret, Sonia; Monnier, Matthieu; Robin-Chevallier, Lucas; Bourdier, Pierre; Duffes, Thomas; Nocodie, Serge; Neveux, Guillaume; Paulou, Julien; Vermeulen, Valentin; Hajjar, Ali; Bouchet, Alexandre; Clicquot De Mentque, Juliette; Jan, Etienne; Pinel, Julie; Haeusler, Laurence; Moro-Goubely, Anne-Gaelle; Berthoin, Guillaume

    2017-09-01

    This huge document comprises several reports, and first proposes an executive summary which gives a synthetic overview of the present status of wind energy in France and abroad, of an assessment of 15 years of a policy of support to wind energy, of perspectives of development on the medium term, of economic spin-off on the long term, and of the ADEME's role in a national strategy for wind energy. These issues are then addressed in a more detailed way with notably a presentation of complete wind energy costs in France, a synthesis of an international benchmark, a detailed analysis of the support policy (in terms of efficiency, usefulness, costs-benefits), a characterisation of market evolutions, a discussion of constraint evolutions and of development strategies. A synthetic version of this report is then provided. More detailed reports are proposed on the various issues: first, analysis of the chain value, status of the sector in France and international benchmark; secondly, an assessment of the support policy through an assessment, a prospective and strategy, and then a detailed discussion of macro-economic spin-off and of jobs in the sector on the long term in association with wind energy development. A third part proposes a presentation of ADEME's strategy and action plan in favour of wind energy. Finally, a set of appendices contains presentations of survey questionnaires and of survey result processing, presentations of results regarding actors and countries, and presentation of modelling methodologies

  4. Recommended practices for wind farm data collection and reliability assessment for O&M optimization

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hahn, Berthold; Welte, Thomas; Faulstich, Stefan

    2017-01-01

    . The complete results of IEA Wind Task 33 are described in the expert group report on recommended practices for "Wind farm data collection and reliability assessment for O&M optimization" which will be published by IEA Wind in 2017. This paper briefly presents the background of the work, the recommended process...

  5. Probabilistic Capacity Assessment of Lattice Transmission Towers under Strong Wind

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei eZhang

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Serving as one key component of the most important lifeline infrastructure system, transmission towers are vulnerable to multiple nature hazards including strong wind and could pose severe threats to the power system security with possible blackouts under extreme weather conditions, such as hurricanes, derechoes, or winter storms. For the security and resiliency of the power system, it is important to ensure the structural safety with enough capacity for all possible failure modes, such as structural stability. The study is to develop a probabilistic capacity assessment approach for transmission towers under strong wind loads. Due to the complicated structural details of lattice transmission towers, wind tunnel experiments are carried out to understand the complex interactions of wind and the lattice sections of transmission tower and drag coefficients and the dynamic amplification factor for different panels of the transmission tower are obtained. The wind profile is generated and the wind time histories are simulated as a summation of time-varying mean and fluctuating components. The capacity curve for the transmission towers is obtained from the incremental dynamic analysis (IDA method. To consider the stochastic nature of wind field, probabilistic capacity curves are generated by implementing IDA analysis for different wind yaw angles and different randomly generated wind speed time histories. After building the limit state functions based on the maximum allowable drift to height ratio, the probabilities of failure are obtained based on the meteorological data at a given site. As the transmission tower serves as the key nodes for the power network, the probabilistic capacity curves can be incorporated into the performance based design of the power transmission network.

  6. Value of Flexible Resources, Virtual Bidding, and Self-Scheduling in Two-Settlement Electricity Markets With Wind Generation – Part I: Principles and Competitive Model

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kazempour, Jalal; Hobbs, Benjamin F.

    2017-01-01

    Part one of this two-part paper presents new models for evaluating flexible resources in two-settlement electricity markets (day-ahead and real-time) with uncertain net loads (demand minus wind). Physical resources include wind together with fast- and slow-start demand response and thermal...... of certain equivalencies of the four models. We show how virtual bidding enhances market performance, since, together with self-scheduling by slow-start generators, it can help deterministic day-ahead market to choose the most efficient unit commitment....

  7. Renewable energy resources and their role in the energy balance of the country

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ivanov, P.; Trifonova, L.

    2001-01-01

    The role of the renewable energy sources in the energy production sector is discussed. The main features of solar, wind and biomass energy are reviewed. Studies for Bulgaria show a total solar radiation above 1600 kWh/m 2 for the Southern regions. The assessment of the solar resources, made by the DOE gives about 170 000 TWh/y for the whole territory. The economically advantageous resources for passive heating are 10.6 TWh till 2020. For the same period the utilization of 0.92 TWh solar energy is possible. Solar installations with surface about 14 000 m 2 are currently in operation. 54% of them are in the tourism sphere and only 8% are in industry (due to some economical difficulties about 44% of the industrial installations are shut down). On the base of processing of the data from more that 100 meteorological stations on the country territory, a spatial assessment of the resources has been done. For the whole territory the wind potential is estimated to about 15800 GW. Theoretical average annual wind resources at 10 km above the surface are 125 000 TWh. There are several areas with wind velocity 5-6 m/s which are suitable for wind energy production. The energy resources of biomass for the country are large - around 35.5 TWh. Under the programmes 'Country Study Project' and PHARE, different scenarii for the renewable energy source utilization till 2020 are developed. Estimation for the possibilities for wider application of the renewable sources in the market are done

  8. Ponnequin Wind Energy Project Weld County, Colorado

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1997-08-01

    The purpose of this environmental assessment (EA) is to provide the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the public with information on potential environmental impacts associated with the development of the Ponnequin Wind Energy Project in Colorado. This EA and public comments received on it will be used in DOE`s deliberations on whether to release funding for the project. This document provides a detailed description of the proposed project and an assessment of potential impacts associated with its construction and operations. Resources and conditions considered in the analysis include streams; wetlands; floodplains; water quality; soils; vegetation; air quality; socioeconomic conditions; energy resources; noise; transportation; cultural resources; visual and land use resources; public health and safety; wildlife; threatened, endangered, and candidate species; and cumulative impacts. The analysis found that the project would have minimal impacts on these resources and conditions, and would not create impacts that exceed the significance criteria defined in this document. 90 refs., 5 figs.

  9. Optimum sizing of wind-battery systems incorporating resource uncertainty

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roy, Anindita; Kedare, Shireesh B.; Bandyopadhyay, Santanu

    2010-01-01

    The inherent uncertainty of the wind is a major impediment for successful implementation of wind based power generation technology. A methodology has been proposed in this paper to incorporate wind speed uncertainty in sizing wind-battery system for isolated applications. The uncertainty associated with the wind speed is incorporated using chance constraint programming approach. For a pre-specified reliability requirement, a deterministic equivalent energy balance equation may be derived from the chance constraint that allows time series simulation of the entire system. This results in a generation of the entire set of feasible design options, satisfying different system level constraints, on a battery capacity vs. generator rating diagram, also known as the design space. The proposed methodology highlights the trade-offs between the wind turbine rating, rotor diameter and the battery size for a given reliability of power supply. The optimum configuration is chosen on the basis of the minimum cost of energy (US$/kWh). It is shown with the help of illustrative examples that the proposed methodology is generic and flexible to incorporate alternate sub-component models. (author)

  10. Economic filters for evaluating porphyry copper deposit resource assessments using grade-tonnage deposit models, with examples from the U.S. Geological Survey global mineral resource assessment: Chapter H in Global mineral resource assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, Gilpin R.; Menzie, W. David

    2012-01-01

    An analysis of the amount and location of undiscovered mineral resources that are likely to be economically recoverable is important for assessing the long-term adequacy and availability of mineral supplies. This requires an economic evaluation of estimates of undiscovered resources generated by traditional resource assessments (Singer and Menzie, 2010). In this study, simplified engineering cost models were used to estimate the economic fraction of resources contained in undiscovered porphyry copper deposits, predicted in a global assessment of copper resources. The cost models of Camm (1991) were updated with a cost index to reflect increases in mining and milling costs since 1989. The updated cost models were used to perform an economic analysis of undiscovered resources estimated in porphyry copper deposits in six tracts located in North America. The assessment estimated undiscovered porphyry copper deposits within 1 kilometer of the land surface in three depth intervals.

  11. Mid-Atlantic Wind - Overcoming the Challenges

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Daniel F. Ancona III; Kathryn E. George; Richard P. Bowers; Dr. Lynn Sparling; Bruce Buckheit; Daniel LoBue

    2012-05-31

    This study, supported by the US Department of Energy, Wind Powering America Program, Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Chesapeake Bay Foundation, analyzed barriers to wind energy development in the Mid-Atlantic region along with options for overcoming or mitigating them. The Mid-Atlantic States including Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia, have excellent wind energy potential and growing demand for electricity, but only two utility-scale projects have been installed to date. Reasons for this apathetic development of wind resources were analyzed and quantified for four markets. Specific applications are: 1) Appalachian mountain ridgeline sites, 2) on coastal plains and peninsulas, 3) at shallow water sites in Delaware and Chesapeake Bays, Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds, and 4) at deeper water sites off the Atlantic coast. Each market has distinctly different opportunities and barriers. The primary barriers to wind development described in this report can be grouped into four categories; state policy and regulatory issues, wind resource technical uncertainty, economic viability, and public interest in environmental issues. The properties of these typologies are not mutually independent and do interact. The report concluded that there are no insurmountable barriers to land-based wind energy projects and they could be economically viable today. Likewise potential sites in sheltered shallow waters in regional bay and sounds have been largely overlooked but could be viable currently. Offshore ocean-based applications face higher costs and technical and wind resource uncertainties. The ongoing research and development program, revision of state incentive policies, additional wind measurement efforts, transmission system expansion, environmental baseline studies and outreach to private developers and stakeholders are needed to reduce barriers to wind energy development.

  12. Mid-Atlantic Wind - Overcoming the Challenges

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Daniel F. Ancona III; Kathryn E. George; Lynn Sparling; Bruce C. Buckheit; Daniel LoBue; and Richard P. Bowers

    2012-06-29

    This study, supported by the US Department of Energy, Wind Powering America Program, Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Chesapeake Bay Foundation, analyzed barriers to wind energy development in the Mid-Atlantic region along with options for overcoming or mitigating them. The Mid-Atlantic States including Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia, have excellent wind energy potential and growing demand for electricity, but only two utility-scale projects have been installed to date. Reasons for this apathetic development of wind resources were analyzed and quantified for four markets. Specific applications are: 1) Appalachian mountain ridgeline sites, 2) on coastal plains and peninsulas, 3) at shallow water sites in Delaware and Chesapeake Bays, Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds, and 4) at deeper water sites off the Atlantic coast. Each market has distinctly different opportunities and barriers. The primary barriers to wind development described in this report can be grouped into four categories; state policy and regulatory issues, wind resource technical uncertainty, economic viability, and public interest in environmental issues. The properties of these typologies are not mutually independent and do interact. The report concluded that there are no insurmountable barriers to land-based wind energy projects and they could be economically viable today. Likewise potential sites in sheltered shallow waters in regional bay and sounds have been largely overlooked but could be viable currently. Offshore ocean-based applications face higher costs and technical and wind resource uncertainties. The ongoing research and development program, revision of state incentive policies, additional wind measurement efforts, transmission system expansion, environmental baseline studies and outreach to private developers and stakeholders are needed to reduce barriers to wind energy development.

  13. Impact of Wind Power on the Angular Stability of a Power System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Djemai NAIMI

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available Wind energy conversion systems are very different in nature from conventional generators. Therefore dynamic studies must be addressed in order to integrate wind power into the power system. Angular stability assessment of wind power generator is one of main issues in power system security and operation. The angular stability for the wind power generator is determined by its corresponding Critical Clearing Time (CCT. In this paper, the effect of wind power on the transient fault behavior is investigated by replacing the power generated by two main types of wind turbine, increasing gradually a rate of wind power penetration and changing the location of wind resources. The simulation analysis was established on a 14 bus IEEE test system by PSAT/Matlab, which gives access to an extensive library of grid components, and relevant wind turbine model.

  14. Using modeling, satellite images and existing global datasets for rapid preliminary assessments of renewable energy resources: The case of Mali

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nygaard, Ivan; Badger, Jake; Larsen, Soeren; Rasmussen, Kjeld; Nielsen, Thomas Theis; Hansen, Lars Boye; Stisen, Simon; Mariko, Adama; Togola, Ibrahim

    2010-01-01

    This paper presents a novel approach to the preliminary, low-cost, national-scale mapping of wind energy, solar energy and certain categories of bio-energy resources in developing countries, using Mali as an example. The methods applied make extensive use of satellite remote sensing and meteorological mesoscale modeling. The paper presents first results from applying the methodology in Mali and discusses the appropriateness of the results obtained. It is shown that northern Mali has considerable wind energy potential, while average wind speeds in the southern part are too low to make wind power a competitive option. Solar energy resources are shown to be abundant in all of Mali, though the highest values are found in the south. The temporal variation is relatively limited. Bio-energy resources are also concentrated in the south, but there are small pockets of high vegetation productivity in the irrigated areas of the Niger inland delta that might be interesting from a renewable energy resource perspective. Finally, the paper discusses the role that renewable energy resources might play in the energy systems of Mali, given the spatio-temporal distribution of renewable energy resources. It is argued that at the current price of about 70 US$/barrel for fossil fuels, renewable energy resources are becoming economically as well as environmentally attractive options. (author)

  15. Database on wind characteristics - Analyses of wind turbine design loads

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Larsen, G.C.; Hansen, K.S.

    2004-06-01

    The main objective of IEA R and D Wind Annex XVII - Database on Wind Characteristics - has been to provide wind energy planners, designers and researchers, as well as the international wind engineering community in general, with a source of actual wind field data (time series and resource data) observed in a wide range of different wind climates and terrain types. Connected to an extension of the initial Annex period, the scope for the continuation was widened to include also support to the international wind turbine standardisation efforts.. The project partners are Sweden, Norway, U.S.A., The Netherlands and Denmark, with Denmark as the Operating Agent. The reporting of the continuation of Annex XVII falls in two separate parts. Part one accounts in details for the available data in the established database bank, and part two describes various data analyses performed with the overall purpose of improving the design load cases with relevance for to wind turbine structures. The present report constitutes the second part of the Annex XVII reporting. Both fatigue and extreme load aspects are dealt with, however, with the main emphasis on the latter. The work has been supported by The Ministry of Environment and Energy, Danish Energy Agency, The Netherlands Agency for Energy and the Environment (NOVEM), The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Administration (NVE), The Swedish National Energy Administration (STEM) and The Government of the United States of America. (au)

  16. Enhancing consumers' voluntary use of small-scale wind turbines to generate own electricity in South Africa

    OpenAIRE

    Brendan Whelan; Edwin Muchapondwa

    2009-01-01

    This paper investigates whether South African households and small businesses can take advantage of the country’s substantial wind resources to produce their own power from small-scale wind turbines in a viable way. The viability of small-scale wind turbines is assessed by means of a financial analysis based on the internal rate of return method. The recently announced wind feed-in tariff will not affect the viability of consumer-based small-scale wind turbines considered in this paper sinc...

  17. West Texas geothermal resource assessment. Part II. Preliminary utilization assessment of the Trans-Pecos geothermal resource. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gilliland, M.W.; Fenner, L.B.

    1980-01-01

    The utilization potential of geothermal resources in Trans-Pecos, Texas was assessed. The potential for both direct use and electric power generation were examined. As with the resource assessment work, the focus was on the Hueco Tanks area in northeastern El Paso County and the Presidio Bolson area in Presidio County. Suitable users of the Hueco Tanks and Presidio Bolson resource areas were identified by matching postulated temperature characteristics of the geothermal resource to the need characteristics of existing users in each resource area. The amount of geothermal energy required and the amount of fossil fuel that geothermal energy would replace were calculated for each of the users identified as suitable. Current data indicate that temperatures in the Hueco Tanks resource area are not high enough for electric power generation, but in at least part of the Presidio Bolson resource area, they may be high enough for electric power generation.

  18. Optimal wind energy penetration in power systems: An approach based on spatial distribution of wind speed

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zolfaghari, Saeed; Riahy, Gholam H.; Abedi, Mehrdad; Golshannavaz, Sajjad

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Chronological wind speeds at distinct locations of the wind farm are not the same. • Spatial distribution of wind speed affects wind farm’s output power expectation. • Neglecting wind speed’s spatial doubt leads to mistake in wind energy penetration. • Scenario-based method can be used for effective wind capacity penetration level. - Abstract: Contributing in power system expansions, the present study establishes an efficient scheme for optimal integration of wind energy resources. The proposed approach highly concerns the spatial distribution of wind speed at different points of a wind farm. In mathematical statements, a suitable probability distribution function (PDF) is well-designed for representing such uncertainties. In such conditions, it is likely to have dissimilar output powers for individual and identical wind turbines. Thus, the overall aggregated PDF of a wind farm remarkably influences the critical parameters including the expected power and energy, capacity factor, and the reliability metrics such as loss of load expectation (LOLE) and expected energy not supplied (EENS). Furthermore, the proposed approach is deployed for optimal allocation of wind energy in bulk power systems. Hence, two typical test systems are numerically analyzed to interrogate the performance of the proposed approach. The conducted survey discloses an over/underestimation of harvestable wind energy in the case of overlooking spatial distributions. Thus, inaccurate amounts of wind farm’s capacity factor, output power, energy and reliability indices might be estimated. Meanwhile, the number of wind turbines may be misjudged to be installed. However, the proposed approach yields in a fair judgment regarding the overall performance of the wind farm. Consequently, a reliable penetration level of wind energy to the power system is assured. Extra discussions are provided to deeply assess the promising merits of the founded approach.

  19. Investigation of wind power potential at Oran, northwest of Algeria

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boudia, Sidi Mohammed; Guerri, Ouahiba

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Wind resource assessment in the northwestern part of Algeria using WAsP Software. • Comparison between the performances of 6 WECs at 3 sites with great potential. • Assessment of the wind power cost per kW h of electricity produced. • Stall-regulated wind turbines are more appropriated for Site 1. • Pitch-regulated wind turbines are suggested for the windiest Site. - Abstract: In this work, ten years of wind data from Oran meteorological station have been used to evaluate the potential of wind power on the Oranie region, in the North-western part of Algeria, open on the Mediterranean Sea. The WAsP program was used to analyze the wind Atlas of the region to find the windiest areas. Three regions were chosen for their great wind potential. The study proposes to assess wind power cost per kW h of electricity produced using six types of WECs. The investigation at 10 m above ground at the location of the meteorological station shows that Oran has an average wind potential, with an annual mean wind speed equal to 4.2 m/s and an annual mean power density of 129 W/m 2 . The temporal study shows that spring period is the windiest with 4.9 m/s. In terms of energy production, the results show that the second site is the best location for harnessing the wind power to generate electricity. The minimum cost per kW h of electricity generated in that location is about 0.0181$/kW h with a capacity factor equal to 51.36% for an annual energy production equal to 11.14 GW h, given by the Power Wind 90 wind turbine of 2.5 MW power rated capacity.

  20. Environmental assessment, expanded Ponnequin wind energy project, Weld County, Colorado

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1999-02-01

    The US Department of Energy (DOE) has considered a proposal from the State of Colorado, Office of Energy Conservation (OEC), for funding construction of the Expanded Ponnequin Wind Project in Weld County, Colorado. OEC plans to enter into a contracting arrangement with Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo) for the completion of these activities. PSCo, along with its subcontractors and business partners, are jointly developing the Expanded Ponnequin Wind Project. The purpose of this Final Environmental Assessment (EA) is to provide DOE and the public with information on potential environmental impacts associated with the Expanded Ponnequin Wind Energy Project. This EA, and public comments received on it, were used in DOE's deliberations on whether to release funding for the expanded project under the Commercialization Ventures Program