Global Atlas for Siting Parameters

Purpose: The current project, the Global Atlas for Siting Parameters (GASP), aims at bringing down the Levelized Cost of Energy by reducing uncertainty and providing quality data for turbine siting parameters. This will ensure that the turbines’ structural integrity is suitable for the environmental conditions, reducing cost by avoiding over-classification of turbines. The output from GASP provides the required parameters for market schemes.

Relevance Design parameters are needed to avoid placing turbines in a dangerous wind environment and to identify the suitable turbine design class, which is critical for evaluating the financial feasibility of a wind farm project. The design class is reflected not only in the purchase price and maintenance schedule of the turbines, but also impacts the options for rotor diameters (RD) and hub heights, which are linked to the design classes. Annual energy production (AEP) scales with RD squared, so a 25% increase of RD leads to an increase of more than 50% in AEP. The National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) reports the correct type of turbine can produce 50-60% more power than over-designed turbines with smaller RD. GASP helps to avoid this over-design without risking a critical mismatch between the turbine and the site. There are three main classes of turbines based on extreme winds, which each have three sub-classes based on turbulence. Extreme winds and turbulence statistics are also needed to determine what types of turbines will be able to withstand the site-specific wind loads, which is based on IEC standards .

This project will create a global (onshore and offshore) atlas of IEC siting parameters and recommended wind turbine classes at a spatial resolution of 250 m, which will be made available through both a technical and commercial platform. The atlas, created using international standard methodologies, will be a valuable tool for cost estimation, which will reduce the investment risk when planning a wind farm.