Wind Resource Assessment

James Adams, Director of Project Services

AWS Truewind, LLC
463 New Karner Road
Albany, NY 12205
[email protected]

www.awstruewind.com
AWS Truewind - Overview
z Industry Leader & Consultant for 20,000+ MW
z Full spectrum of wind farm development
and evaluation services
z Wind Assessment, Mapping, Engineering,
Performance Assessment, Forecasting

In business 25 years
Project roles in over 50 countries
Albany, New York based; 65+ employees
2008 AWS Truewind, LLC
 Establishing Project Viability
Wind Resources Determine:
z Project Location & Size
z Tower Height
z Turbine Selection & Layout
z Energy Production
annual, seasonal
on- & off-peak
z Cost of Energy/Cash Flow
z Warranty Terms

The wind energy industry is more demanding of wind speed

accuracy than any other industry.
2008 AWS Truewind, LLC
 Wind Resource Assessment
Process
Identify Attractive Candidate Sites
Collect >1 yr Wind Data Using Tall Towers
Adjust Data for Height and for Long-Term Climatic
Conditions
Use Model to Extrapolate Measurements to All
Proposed Wind Turbine Locations
Predict Energy Output From Turbines
Quantify Uncertainties

2008 AWS Truewind, LLC

Sources of Wind Resource
Information
Existing Data
(surface & upper air)
usually not where needed
potentially misleading
Modeling/Mapping
integrates wind data with
terrain, surface roughness &
other features
New Measurements
site specific using towers &
other measurement systems

2008 AWS Truewind, LLC

 Wind Maps
Used for:
Site prospecting in a region
Understanding your sites
wind resource
Turbine siting
Predicting energy yield
 Wind Maps
Createdusing mesoscale numerical
weather models and account for local
topography and surface roughness
Provide high spatial resolution
(100-200 m grid = 3-10 acre squares)
Simulate land/sea breezes, low level
jets, channeling
Give wind speed estimates at
multiple heights
Extensively validated
The higher the resolution, the better
understanding you have of your sites wind Std error typically 4-7% of speed
(~10-12% energy)
resource!
GIS compatible
Reduce development risks
2008 AWS Truewind, LLC
 Where to Monitor?
Wind maps can be used to build your project conceptually and provide guidance on
tower placement as well as energy production.

N
NNW60% NNE
NW NE
30%
WNW ENE

W 0% E

WSW ESE

SW SE
SSW SSE
STotal Energy
Percent of
Percent of Total Time

2008 AWS Truewind, LLC

 How and What to Measure
Anemometers, Vanes, Data Loggers, Masts
Measured Parameters
wind speed, direction, temperature
1-3 second sampling; 10-min or hourly recording
Derived Parameters
wind shear, turbulence intensity, air density
Multiple measurement heights
best to measure at hub height (not always practical)
can use shorter masts by using wind shear derived from two other
heights to extrapolate speeds to hub height
Multiple tower locations, especially in complex terrain
Specialty measurements of growing importance
Sodar
Lidar

2008 AWS Truewind, LLC

 Tower Placement is Important
Surrounding
features both
natural and man-
made can perturb
wind flow

Important to site
meteorological
towers and turbines
clear of obstructions
 Raising the Tower
Installed in ~ 3 days
without foundation using 4-5
people
Solar powered; cellular data
communications
 Typical Monitoring Tower

Heights up to 60 m (can be
taller but lighting is required
above this height)
Tubular pole supported by
guy wires
Cost approximately $25,000
to $35,000 installed plus
assessment
Be sure to use an experienced
installer

2008 AWS Truewind, LLC

 Need to Monitor On-Site?
FL100 Lorax Energy

Vast majority of the time, yes (installs

100kw and less, typically not)
On-site monitoring reduces
uncertainty in energy ($$$ and
payback period)
Conduct a cost-benefit analysis
Much depends on:
Project size, investment required
(both sides) and level of
acceptable risk
Other methods to determine
resource available? Uncertainty?
 Wind Shear
The change in horizontal wind speed with height
A function of wind speed, surface
roughness (may vary with wind
direction), and atmospheric stability
(changes from day to night)
Wind shear exponents are higher at
low wind speeds, above rough
surfaces, and during stable conditions
Typical exponent () values:
.10 - .15: water/beach
.15 - .25: gently rolling farmland
.25 - .40+: forests/mountains

= Log10 [V2/V1]
Wind speed, and available power, generally V2 = V1(Z2/Z1)

increase significantly with height Log10 [Z2/Z1]

2008 AWS Truewind, LLC
 Wind Shear and Roughness

Least Rough Slightly Rough Roughest

(Lower Shear) (Medium Shear) (Highest Shear)
 Met. Mast Height vs. Hub Height
Use of shorter masts introduces uncertainty

Measured
data using
sodar

Extrapolation
1.5 MW from met mast
Surface Layer
wind
(top 50-100m)
turbine

50 m met Roughness
mast sublayer

Power law & log shear profiles only applicable in surface layer
Potential for large wind shear discontinuities & low level jets above met. mast
2008 AWS Truewind, LLC
Sodar Complements Short Masts
Sodar = sonic detection and ranging

Sound-based remote sensor; a

virtual tower
Emits acoustic chirps; the
timing & frequency shift of
return echoes determines
vertical wind structure
Main value is to define the wind
profile above masts
Secondary value is to spot
check relative wind resource at
different points within a large
project area
Cost typically $65K for system
2008 AWS Truewind, LLC
 Lidar Also Complements Short Masts
Lidar = Light detection and ranging
Natural Power ZephIR Unit

Similar theory to sodar but uses

light opposed to sound
Good potential
Power supply can be an issue
Still being studied for use as a
wind resource assessment
instrument
Cost typically $300,000 or more
 Remote Sensing - Tower
Replacement?
Sodar can stand on its own ART Sodar Unit Mt Shasta, CA
in terms of quality
measurements (if operated
properly)
Sodar as stand alone may
not be readily acceptable by
all parties
The cost of equipment
purchase/rental can be
limiting factor
Short term vs long term
sampling?
Predicting Long-Term Wind Conditions
From Short-Term Measurements
Measure - Correlate - Predict Technique
Measure one year of data on-
site using a tall tower 25
Airport C Regression Airport B Regression

Project Site 60 m Wind Speed (m/s)

y =2 1.7278x + 0.7035 y = 1.4962x + 0.4504
Correlate with one or more 20
R = 0.8801
2
R = 0.875
regional climate reference
stations 15
Need high r2 Airport A Regression
y = 1.0501x + 0.4507
10 2
Reference station must have R = 0.8763
long-term stability Airport A
5
Upper-air rawinsonde data may Airport B
be better than other sources for Airport C
0
correlation purposes 0 5 10 15 20
Reference Station Mean Wind Speed (m/s)
Predict long-term wind characteristics at
project site
This plot compares a sites hourly data with three
regional airport stations. A multiple regression resulted
in an r2 of 0.92.
2008 AWS Truewind, LLC
 Calculating Energy Production

Wind Speed Frequency Distribution Wind Turbine Power Curve:

Output As a Function of Speed

Wind Direction Rose

Elements of Energy Production
Analysis & Reporting
Site/Instrument Description
Wind Data Summary
Long-term Speed Projection
Turbine Power Curve
Turbine Number & Layout
Gross Energy Production
Loss Estimates
Uncertainty Analysis
Net Annual Energy Production
(P50, P75, P90, etc.)

2008 AWS Truewind, LLC

 Conclusions
The wind resource drives project viability.
Wind conditions are site-specific and time/height variable.
Accuracy is crucial. Wind resource assessment programs
must be designed to maximize accuracy.
Combination of measurement and modeling techniques
gives the most reliable result.
Know the uncertainties and incorporate into decision
making.
Good financing terms depend on it.

2008 AWS Truewind, LLC

 More Information.
Wind Resource Assessment Handbook
Fundamentals for Conducting a Successful Monitoring
Program
WIND RESOURCE
Published by NREL ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK
www.nrel.gov/docs/legosti/fy97/22223.pdf
Fundamentals For Conducting
Peer reviewed A Successful Monitoring Program

Technical & comprehensive

Topics include:
Siting tools
Measurement instrumentation
Installation
Prepared By:
Operation & maintenance AWS Scientific, Inc.
255 Fuller Road
Albany, NY 12203
Data collection & handling April 1997

Data validation & reporting NREL Subcontract No. TAT-5-15283-01

Prepared for:

Costs & labor requirements National Renewable Energy

Laboratory
1617 Cole Boulevard
Golden, CO 80401

2008 AWS Truewind, LLC

 Questions?

Jim Adams, Director of Project Services

AWS Truewind, LLC.
[email protected]