Siting - Wind Energy: Renewable Energy and the Environment - page 187

FIGURE 9.10 Land suitable for wind farms in Texas, 1995.

Working Group Handbook has articles and PowerPoint presentations by a number of different
authors [31].

9.6 NUMERICAL MODELS
Numerical models for predicting winds are becoming more accurate and useful, especially for those
areas of the world where surface wind data are scarce or unreliable. Models were primarily derived
from numerical models for weather prediction [32]. Remember that a small difference in wind speed
can make a large difference in energy. Therefore, in the final analysis, surface wind data are still
needed for wind farms.

TABLE 9.3
Texas, Intercepted and Capturable Wind Power and Annual Energy Potential from Land
That Satisfies the Screening Parameters

Area
km 2

Intercepted
MW

Capturable Power
MW

Energy
TWh/year

Wind Class

3 69,299 302,365 90,170 795

4 41,391 232,196 81,269 712

5 42 288 101 1

6 54 471 165 1

7 2 22 8

Total 110,788 535,342 172,252 1,509