Wind resource estimation and siting of wind turbines

Detailed knowledge of the characteristics of the natural wind is necessary for the design, planning and operational aspect of wind energy systems. Here, we shall only be concerned with those meteorological aspects of wind energy planning that are termed wind resource estimation. The estimation of the wind resource ranges from the overall estimation of the mean energy content of the wind over a large area - called regional assessment - to the prediction of the average yearly energy production of a specific wind turbine at a specific location - called siting.

A regional assessment will most often lead to a so-called wind atlas. A precise prediction of the wind speed at a given site is essential because for aerodynamic reasons the power output of a wind turbine is proportional to the third power of the wind speed, hence even small errors in prediction of wind speed may result in large deviations in the anticipated power production and thereby lead to considerable uncertainty in the assessment of the economic benefits of installing wind power.