Wind Integration DataSets

Wind & Water NWTC Wind Data
1

I was looking for wind speed data for different IEC wind classes. I thought the Eastern and Western Wind Integration Datasets must contain all wind classes. However, the wind speed data is averaged over 10 minute interval and because I want to simulate turbine power outputs, I need to input high resolution wind speeds to the model. Does anybody know how to convert/interpolate this 10-minute data to subsecond resolution?

I looked at NREL’s TurbSim software, which is more focused toward turbulence than variations in mean speed like diurnal changes. While turbulence is important for my simulations, so are day-to-day and seasonal variations in wind speed. Does somebody know a tool that can simulate such wind speed variations?

2

Dear Dee,

Typically in wind turbine analysis, the variation of wind conditions over a turbine’s lifetime is simulated by simulating different wind conditions in separate 10-minute simulations. Each 10-minute simulation is assumed to have a fixed mean wind speed, fixed shear, fixed turbulence intensity, etc. The 10-minute simulation length is based on the spectral gap of wind variation, which occurs between the turbulent and diurnal peaks in the wind spectrum. Ten minutes of turbulent wind can be approximated as stationary within this frequency band. TurbSim is used to simulate the wind-speed spatial and temporal variations (turbulence) at subsecond resolution for stationary wind (10-minute) wind conditions.

I hope that helps.

3

Jason,

Thanks for explanation. It is big help.

4

Dee,

If you are doing a performance analysis, I don’t think you really want to do what Jason was talking about. That is more for loads analysis.

I wrote a program in 1991 that may do what you want. Here is the description at the beginning of the program:

C This program is used to calculate the amount of revenue C generated by a wind turbine. Its input is one year's worth C of hourly wind speed data, a performance curve and the wind C farm's rate schedule. This version of the program uses the C one hour wind speed data and a sigma vs wind speed curve to C generate ersatz one second data with three different density C functions, Quasi-Normal, Log Normal and Rayleigh. This one C second data is then averaged for several different time steps C and the economic calculations are performed. This will allow C us to determine, the effects of sample rate and ws distribution C on the economics analysis.

I have not look at this in over 20 years, so if you have questions, read the code–that’s what I would have to do. You can download the source code here:

[url]National Wind Technology Center's Information Portal | Wind Research | NREL

Good luck with your project.

Marshall