Abstract
Harvesting wind energy resources is a major part of the UK strategy to diversify the power supply portfolio and mitigate environmental degradation. Based on wind speed data for the period 1981–2018, collected at 38 surface observation stations, this study presents a comprehensive assessment of wind speed characteristics by means of statistical analysis using the Weibull distribution function. The estimated Weibull parameters are used to evaluate wind power density at both station and regional levels and important, turbine-specific wind energy assessment parameters. It is shown that the Weibull distribution function provides satisfactory modeling of the probability distribution of daily mean wind speeds, with the correlation coefficient generally exceeding 0.9. Site-to-site variability in wind power density and other essential parameters is apparent. The Weibull scale parameter lies in the range between 4.96 m/s and 12.06 m/s, and the shape parameter ranges from 1.63 to 2.97. The estimated wind power density ranges from 125 W/m2 to 1407 W/m2. Statistically significant long-term trends in annual mean wind speed are identified for only 15 of the 38 stations and three of the 11 geographical regions. The seasonal variability of Weibull parameters and wind power density is confirmed and discussed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 023303 |
| Journal | Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 29 Mar 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors would like to acknowledge the British Atmospheric Data Centre (BADC) and the UK Met Office (UKMO) for providing access to the MIDAS data. A special thanks goes also to Professor Mark Sterling at the University of Birmingham for reviewing and commenting on the original draft of this paper. We also would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. The data that support the findings of this study are available from the British Atmospheric Data Center (BADC) and the UK Met Office (UKMO). Restrictions may apply to the availability of these data, which were used under license for this study.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Author(s).