A practical, authoritative guide to the assessment of wind resources for utility-scale wind projectsauthored by a team of experts from a leading renewable energy consultancy
The successful development of wind energy projects depends on an accurate assessment of where, how often, and how strongly the wind blows. A mistake in this stage of evaluation can cause severe financial losses and missed opportunities for developers, lenders, and investors.
Wind Resource Assessment: A Practical Guide to Developing a Wind Project shows readers how to achieve a high standard of resource assessment, reduce the uncertainty associated with long-term energy performance, and maximize the value of their project assets. Beginning with the siting, installation, and operation of a high-quality wind monitoring program, this book continues with methods of data quality control and validation, extrapolating measurements from anemometer height to turbine height, adjusting short-term observations for historical climate conditions, and wind flow modeling to account for terrain and surface conditions.
In addition, Wind Resource Assessment addresses special topics such as:
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Worker safety
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Data security
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Remote sensing technology (sodar and lidar)
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Offshore resource assessment
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Impacts of climate change
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Uncertainty estimation
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Plant design and energy production estimatio
Filled with important information ranging from basic fundamentals of wind to cutting-edge research topics, and accompanied by helpful references and discussion questions, this comprehensive textdesigned for an international audienceis a vital reference that promotes consistent standards for wind assessment across the industry.
Table of Contents
Preface xv
1. Introduction 1
1.1 Where do Winds Come From? 2
1.2 Key Characteristics of the Wind 4
1.3 Wind Power Plants 6
1.4 Purpose and Organization of this Book 9
1.5 Questions for Discussion 10
PART 1 Wind Monitoring 13
2. Overview of a Wind Resource Assessment Campaign 15
2.1 Site Identification 16
2.2 Resource Monitoring 16
2.3 Wind Resource Analysis 20
3. Siting a Wind Project 23
3.1 Site Selection 23
3.2 Regional Wind Resource Information 25
3.3 Field Surveys 29
3.4 Tower Placement 30
3.5 Permitting for Wind Monitoring 33
3.6 Land Lease Agreements 34
3.7 Questions for Discussion 35
4. Monitoring Station Instrumentation and Measurements 37
4.1 Basic Measurements 37
4.2 Additional Measurements 45
4.3 Recorded Parameters and Sampling Intervals 49
4.4 Data Loggers 50
4.5 Data Storage Devices 51
4.6 Data Transfer Equipment 52
4.7 Power Sources 55
4.8 Towers and Sensor Support Hardware 56
4.9 Wiring 57
4.10 Measurement System Accuracy and Reliability 58
4.11 Questions for Review and Discussion 59
5. Installation of Monitoring Stations 61
5.1 Equipment Procurement 61
5.2 Equipment Acceptance Testing and Field Preparation 62
5.3 Installation Team 64
5.4 Safety 64
5.5 Determination of True North 65
5.6 Tower Installation 66
5.7 Sensor and Equipment Installation 70
5.8 Site Commissioning 80
5.9 Documentation 81
5.10 Cost and Labor Estimates 81
5.11 Questions for Discussion 84
6. Station Operation and Maintenance 87
6.1 Site Visits 88
6.2 Operation and Maintenance Procedures 88
6.3 Documentation 92
6.4 Spare Parts Inventory 93
6.5 Questions for Discussion 93
7. Data Collection and Handling 99
7.1 Raw Data Storage 99
7.2 Data Retrieval 101
7.3 Data Retrieval Frequency 101
7.4 Data Protection and Storage 101
7.5 Documentation 102
7.6 Questions for Discussion 103
8. Ground-Based Remote Sensing Systems 105
8.1 Sodar 106
8.2 Lidar 108
8.3 Remote Sensing Campaign Design and Siting 109
8.4 Data Collection and Processing 110
8.5 Comparisons with Conventional Anemometry 111
8.6 Questions for Discussion 113
PART 2 Data Analysis and Resource Assessment 115
9. Data Validation 117
9.1 Data Conversion 118
9.2 Data Validation 119
9.3 Post-Validation Adjustments 125
9.4 Data Substitution and Averaging 127
9.5 Questions for Discussion 128
10. Characterizing the Observed Wind Resource 130
10.1 Summarizing the Observed Wind Resource 130
10.2 Questions for Discussion 141
11. Estimating the Resource at Hub Height 143
11.1 Wind Speed 143
11.2 Time-Varying Speeds and Speed Distributions 150
11.3 Other Parameters 151
11.4 Questions for Discussion 152
12. The Climate Adjustment Process 155
12.1 Is the Wind Climate Stable? 156
12.2 Requirements for Accurate MCP 159
12.3 Sources of Reference Data 166
12.4 The Target–Reference Relationship 170
12.5 Questions for Discussion 174
13. Wind Flow Modeling 178
13.1 Types of Wind Flow Models 179
13.2 Application of Numerical Wind Flow Models 189
13.3 Questions for Discussion 191
14. Offshore Resource Assessment 195
14.1 Nature of the Offshore Wind Environment 197
14.2 Wind Resource Monitoring Systems 201
14.3 Operations and Maintenance of Offshore Systems 212
14.4 Satellite-Based Microwave Sensors 213
15. Uncertainty in Wind Resource Assessment 220
15.1 Measurement Uncertainty 221
15.2 Historical Wind Resource 221
15.3 Future Wind Resource 223
15.4 Wind Shear 224
15.5 Wind Flow Modeling Uncertainty 225
15.6 Combining Uncertainties 226
15.7 Questions for Discussion 230
16. Plant Design and Energy Production Estimation 233
16.1 Plant Design Software 233
16.2 Setting up the Project 235
16.3 Wind Resource Data 237
16.4 Selecting a Turbine 239
16.5 Designing and Optimizing a Turbine Layout 243
16.6 Gross and Net Energy Production 244
16.7 Special Topics 248
16.8 Questions for Discussion 256
Appendix A. Wind Resource Assessment Equipment Vendors 260
Wind Resource Assessment Equipment 261
Appendix B. Selected Source of GIS Data 263
Sources of GIS Data Related to Wind Resource Assessment 263
Index 265
