Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 2
Wind resource and site assessment
Wiebke Langreder
Wind & Site, Suzlon Energy, Ã…rhus, Denmark.
Wind farm projects require intensive work prior to the fi nalizing of a project.
The wind resource is one of the most important factors for the fi nancial viability of
a wind farm project. Wind maps representing the best estimate of the wind resource
across a large area have been produced for a wide range of scales, from global
down to local government regions. They do not substitute for wind measurements -
rather they serve to focus investigations and indicate where on-site measurements
would be merited. This chapter explains how wind resource can be assessed. The
steps in this process are explained in detail, starting with initial site identifi ca-
tion. A range of aspects concerning wind speed measurements is then covered
including the choice of sensors, explaining the importance of proper mounting and
calibration, long-term corrections, and data analysis. The diffi culty of extrapolat-
ing the measured wind speed vertically and horizontally is demonstrated, leading
to the need for fl ow models and their proper use. Basic rules for developing a
layout are explained. Having analysed wind data and prepared a layout, the next
step is energy yield calculation.The chapter ends by exploring various aspects of
site suitability.
1 Initial site identifi cation
The wind resource is one of the most critical aspects to be assessed when plan-
ning a wind farm. Different approaches on how to obtain information on the wind
climate are possible. In most countries where wind energy is used extensively,
some form of general information about the wind is available. This information
could consist of wind maps showing colour coded wind speed or energy at a spe-
cifi c height. These are often based on meso-scale models and in the ideal case, are
validated with ground-based stations. The quality of these maps varies widely and
depends on the amount and precision of information that the model has been fed
with, the validation process and the resolution of the model.
 
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