Posters

Abstract

Wind energy yield estimation requires at least one year of local meteorological data collection campaign, as stated in the industry's best practices. This data is crucial for net energy estimation. Local wind measurement campaigns provide with a complete input set for producing bankable energy estimates, including aspects such as air density estimation, wake loss simulation, wind speed and temperature limits for bat/noise-associated environmental curtailments, and high/low-temperature shutdown losses associated with wind turbine model. Nevertheless, meteorological mast installations are not only a prerequisite but also part of the project cost. The selection of meteorological monitoring locations, sensors, calibrations, land permits, installation, maintenance and monitoring, and evaluation of gathered data are separate cost categories. Therefore, before starting investing in these costs, wind farm developers would like to obtain an initial estimation for the site planning to construct a future wind farm. Wind resource maps might provide some insight. Nevertheless, obtaining a better guess via PreLiminary Energy Assessment (PLEA) studies is possible. For this purpose, instead of meteorological mast measurements, virtual mast datasets can be used and by defining the wind turbine model, hub height and some loss categories, wind farm developers can make an initial evaluation of whether the site is worth installing a meteorological mast or a remote sensing device. The first phase of this comparative analysis covers six cases from three countries (Spain, France, and Turkiye) of net energy estimation differences in preliminary versus bankable (based on measurements) energy production estimation studies. In this manner, lower resolution Wind Resource Grids (200m) and virtual masts for preliminary assessments, and higher resolution Wind Resource Grids (50m) and real mast analysis for bankable ones were performed, considering various wind turbine models. The differences in average free wind speed vary between 1% and 10%, whereas in net energy estimations this translates in differences between 3% and 20%. In addition to these six cases, four particular cases from different regions will be presented.