Journal article
High-resolution large-scale onshore wind energy assessments: A review of potential definitions, methodologies and future research needs
University of Aberdeen1
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich2
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology3
Delft University of Technology4
Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH5
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna6
Imperial College London7
Paul Scherrer Institute8
Department of Wind Energy, Technical University of Denmark9
Resource Assessment and Meteorology, Wind Energy Systems Division, Department of Wind Energy, Technical University of Denmark10
Institute For Advanced Sustainability Studies11
...and 1 moreThe rapid uptake of renewable energy technologies in recent decades has increased the demand of energy researchers, policymakers and energy planners for reliable data on the spatial distribution of their costs and potentials. For onshore wind energy this has resulted in an active research field devoted to analysing these resources for regions, countries or globally.
A particular thread of this research attempts to go beyond purely technical or spatial restrictions and determine the realistic, feasible or actual potential for wind energy. Motivated by these developments, this paper reviews methods and assumptions for analysing geographical, technical, economic and, finally, feasible onshore wind potentials.
We address each of these potentials in turn, including aspects related to land eligibility criteria, energy meteorology, and technical developments relating to wind turbine characteristics such as power density, specific rotor power and spacing aspects. Economic aspects of potential assessments are central to future deployment and are discussed on a turbine and system level covering levelized costs depending on locations, and the system integration costs which are often overlooked in such analyses.
Non-technical approaches include scenicness assessments of the landscape, constraints due to regulation or public opposition, expert and stakeholder workshops, willingness to pay/accept elicitations and socioeconomic cost-benefit studies. For each of these different potential estimations, the state of the art is critically discussed, with an attempt to derive best practice recommendations and highlight avenues for future research.
Language: | English |
---|---|
Year: | 2022 |
Pages: | 659-684 |
ISSN: | 18790682 and 09601481 |
Types: | Journal article |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.renene.2021.10.027 |
ORCIDs: | Hahmann, Andrea N. and Larsén, Xiaoli Guo |