Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics www.nonlin-processes-geophys.net 1023-5809 1607-7946 15 6 2008 10.5194/npg-15-803-2008 http://www.nonlin-processes-geophys.net/15/803/2008/ http://www.nonlin-processes-geophys.net/15/803/2008/npg-15-803-2008.html http://www.nonlin-processes-geophys.net/15/803/2008/npg-15-803-2008.pdf 803 813 2008-11-03 Limitations of wind power availability over Europe: a conceptual study P. Kiss I. M. Jánosi janosi@lecso.elte.hu Department of Physics of Complex Systems, Roland Eötvös University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1, 1117 Budapest, Hungary Institute for Mathematics and its Applications, University of Minnesota, 207 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55 455, USA Wind field statistics are evaluated from the ERA-40 data bank covering a period of 44 years with a temporal resolution of 6 h. Instantaneous wind speed values are provided in geographic cells of size 1°×1° (lat/long) for surface (10 m) and 1000 hPa pressure heights. Potential wind power generation is estimated in two steps. Firstly, the wind speed at hub height is approximated from surface data based on the statistical analysis of the wind and geopotential records for 1000 hPa pressure level. Secondly, the wind speed values are transformed by an idealised power curve fitted for measured data. The model time series are fed into various hypothetical electric networks. The main quantity of interest is the aggregated output from the networks. A reference power time series is determined for a static network connecting each continental site and an envelope of 1° around the shorelines (representing off-shore locations) over Europe. This time series exhibits a low average value and a marked annual periodicity. Wind power integration over limited areas results in higher average outputs at the expense of stronger fluctuations. The long-range spatial correlations of the wind field limit the level of fluctuations strongly which can not be eliminated either by an increase of the area of integration or by dynamic control. This study is fully conceptual, however it demonstrates the limitations of wind power integration over Europe. Ackermann, T. and Söder, L.: An overview of wind energy-status 2002, Renew. Sust. Energ. Rev., 6, 67–127, 2002. Archer, C. L. and Jacobson, M. Z.: Evaluation of global wind power, J. Geophys. Res., 110, D12110, doi:10.1029/2004JD005462, 2005. Burton, T., Sharpe, D., Jenkins, N., and Bossanyi, E.: Wind Energy Handbook, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, 648~pp., 2001. Carl, D. M., Tarbell, T. C., and Panofsky, H. A.: Profiles of wind and temperature from towers over homogeneous terrain, J. Atmos. Sci., 30, 788–794, 1973. Dondi, P., Bayoumib, D., Haederlic, C., Julian, D., and Suter, M.: Network integration of distributed power generation, J. Power Sources, 106, 1–9, 2002. Elliott, D. L., Holladay, C. G., Barchet, W. R., Foote, H. P., and Sandusky, W. F.: Wind Energy Resource Atlas of the United States, US Department of Energy, (http://rredc.nrel.gov/wind/pubs/atlas/) (last access: 28~September 2008), 1986. European Wind Energy Association: Wind Energy – The Facts, (http://www.ewea.org) (last access: 28~September 2008), 2004. Farrugia, R. N.: The wind shear exponent in a Mediterranean island climate, Renew. Energ., 28, 647–653, 2003. Garratt, J. R.: The Atmospheric Boundary Layer, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 340~pp., 1994. Giebel, G.: A variance analysis of the capacity displaced by wind energy in Europe, Wind Energy, 10, 69–79, 2007. Henderson, A. R., Morgan, C., Smith, B., Srensen, H. C., Barthelmie, R. J., and Boesmans, B.: Offshore wind energy in Europe - A review of the state-of-the-art, Wind Energy, 6, 35–52, 2003. Holttinen, H.: Hourly wind power variations in the Nordic countries, Wind Energy, 8, 173–195, 2005. Hsu, S. A., Meindl, E. A., and Gilhousen, D. B.: Determining the power-law wind-profile exponent under near-neutral stability conditions at sea, J. Appl. Meteorol., 33, 757–765, 1994. Katsaprakakis, D. A., Papadakis, N., Christakis, D. G., and Zervos, A.: On the wind power rejection in the islands of Crete and Rhodes, Wind Energy, 10, 415–434, 2007. Kiss, P. and Jánosi, I. M.: Comprehensive empirical analysis of ERA-40 surface wind speed distribution over Europe, Energ. Convers. Manage., 49, 2142–2151, 2008. Landberg, L.: The availability and variability of the European wind resource, International Journal of Sustainable Energy, 18, 313–320, 1997. Lund, H.: Large-scale integration of wind power into different energy systems, Energy, 30, 2402–2412, 2005. Pardalos, P. M., Romeijn, H. E., and Tuy, H.: Recent developments and trends in global optimization, J. Comput. Appl. Math., 124, 209–228, 2000. Papaefthymiou, G., Schavemaker, P. H., van~der~Sluis, L., Kling, W. L., Kurowicka, D., and Cooke, R. M.: Integration of stochastic generation in power systems, Int. J. Elec. Power, 28, 655–667, (2006). Pepermans, G., Driesen, J., Haeseldonckx, D., Belmans, R., and Dhaeseleer, W.: Distributed generation: definition, benefits and issues, Energy Policy, 33, 787–798, 2005. Pryor, S. C. and Barthelmie, R. J.: Comparison of potential power production at on- and offshore sites, Wind Energy, 4, 173–181, 2001. Sedefian, L.: On the vertical extrapolation of mean wind power density, J. Appl. Meteorol., 19, 488–493, 1980. Tennekes, H.: The logarithmic wind profile, J. Atmos. Sci., 30, 234–238, 1973. Troen, I. and Petersen, E. L.: European Wind Atlas, (Risoe National Laboratory, Roskilde), 656~pp., 1989. Uppala, S. M., Kallberg, P. W., Simmons, A. J., et al.: The ERA-40 re-analysis, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 131, 2961–3012, 2005.