Skip to main content

Global wind power production is ‘very predictable’, finds Eoltech study

Published by , Editor
Energy Global,


Eoltech, a leading wind and solar resource assessment consultancy, has released the findings of a new study that aimed at assessing the variations of the global wind resource over the last 15 years. The data show that worldwide wind power production is very predictable, with annual variations remaining within a ±3% range. These results are based on irec index, the wind energy index covering 80% of the world’s onshore wind farms installed as of 2023.

The study combines the irec wind energy indexes that Eoltech releases each month for the 300 geographical areas worldwide with the highest number of farms. By aggregating and weighting this data, Eoltech was able to generate a ‘Global’, as well as a ‘European’ wind energy index and provide an overview of global wind resource trends over the past 15 years.

The Global Index covers geographical areas which host about 80% of the world’s operating onshore wind farms as of 2023, while the European Index cover 97% of the continent’s operating wind farms. The European Index shows that wind resource annual variations are within a ±7% range in Europe, compared to ±3% worldwide.

“Operating wind farms experience a large diversity of wind regimes, which cause on a local scale significant resource variability from one year to another. Locally, the production of a wind farm can differ significantly from one year to another, up to 25%, due to the variation of the wind resource. But on a larger scale (Europe, world), cumulated production is much more stable. It should also be noted that our analysis does not show any downward trend over the last 15 years in the global wind resource. Yes, the wind does always blow somewhere on the planet, and it is good news for wind power going forward,” commented Eoltech CEO, Habib Leseney.

irec design includes ERA5 data, one of the latest climate reanalysis data sets produced by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). This indicator is mainly used by asset managers and wind farm owners to compare their production variation from one period to another. Such tools are crucial to assess the production capacity of their portfolio regardless of the wind speed variation level and enable to identify drift affecting the portfolio value over time.

“irec index is used to monitor hundreds of wind farms in operation worldwide. This monthly indicator enables to get an overview of the production capacity of the entire portfolio and its evolution over time. It helps to complement the in-depth analysis of SCADA monitoring data carried out by the operator,” concluded Eoltech Technical Lead Marion Jude.

 

 

For more news and technical articles from the global renewable industry, read the latest issue of Energy Global magazine.

Energy Global's Spring 2024 issue

The Spring 2024 issue of Energy Global starts with a guest comment from Field on how battery storage sites can serve as a viable solution to curtailed energy, before moving on to a regional report from Théodore Reed-Martin, Editorial Assistant, Energy Global, looking at the state of renewables in Europe. This issue also hosts an array of technical articles on electrical infrastructure, turbine and blade monitoring, battery storage technology, coatings, and more.

Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/wind/02042024/global-wind-power-production-is-very-predictable-finds-eoltech-study/

You might also like

Eco Wave Power's CEO arrives for official site visit in Taiwan

Following the signing of the agreement for the sale of the first wave energy generation unit to I-Ke International Ocean Energy Co., the CEO of Eco Wave Power arrived for an official site visit to the planned installation site for Eco Wave Power's technology on the east coast of Taiwan.

 
 

Embed article link: (copy the HTML code below):