Kathryn Vest

Lancaster University (Bailrigg, UK) | | Degree: MSci Environmental Science
Global Stilling: Is wind power running out? Data-based analysis of the trends of high-resolution weather data.

Abstract

Increasing reliance on wind power generation to replace fossil fuel usage requires a greater understanding of wind speed patterns as phenomena such as global stilling could significantly impact the efficiency of wind power generation. Using the record of wind speed and wind power generation data from the Hazelrigg Meteorological Station and wind turbine, a minimal decrease of approximately 0.2ms-1 in 10-minute observed wind speeds and a decrease of approximately 20kW in estimated 10-minute wind power generation were found. In addition, the daily run of wind data from 1985 to 2022 showed a decrease and by transforming this data an estimated decrease of 350kW in wind power generation was found. These results demonstrate that global stilling could be affecting wind speeds and the resulting wind power generation in Lancaster. The main consideration of this study was the importance of using high resolution wind speed data to assess long-term trends. It was found that daily data shows opposing patterns to 10-minute data, therefore it can be noted that high resolution data is a necessity in wind speed trend studies and wind should not be averaged due to its large spatial and temporal variability.

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Kathryn Vest