%0 Journal Article
%T Using the SWEPT Methodology for a Preliminary Wind Potential Estimation
%A Jean-Luc Menet
%J ISRN Renewable Energy
%D 2014
%R 10.1155/2014/516964
%X The implantation of wind turbines generally follows a wind potential study which is made using specific numerical tools; the generated expenses are only acceptable for great projects. The purpose of the present paper is to propose a simplified methodology for the evaluation of the wind potential, following three successive steps for the determination of (i) the mean velocity, either directly or by the use of the most occurrence velocity (MOV); (ii) the velocity distribution coming from the single knowledge of the mean velocity by the use of a Rayleigh distribution and a Davenport-Harris law; (iii) an appropriate approximation of the characteristic curve of the turbine, coming from only two technical data. These last two steps allow calculating directly the electric delivered energy for the considered wind turbine. This methodology, called the SWEPT approach, can be easily implemented in a single worksheet. The results returned by the SWEPT tool are of the same order of magnitude than those given by the classical commercial tools. Moreover, everybody, even a ¡°neophyte,¡± can use this methodology to obtain a first estimation of the wind potential of a site considering a given wind turbine, on the basis of very few general data. 1. Introduction At the end of 2010, the global capacity of wind electricity power has reached 200£¿MW. Consequently, the electric production was about 430£¿TWh, that is, 2.5% of the global electricity consumption [1]. Recent development of wind energy let us think that this general trend will continue in the next few years, and it is clear that developers have integrated this fact in their business plans. Nowadays, wind turbine implementation is an activity which is clearly controlled. Wind farms are obviously built to produce the greatest quantity of energy on the site. However, it has been shown that the efficiency of wind turbines is not the major criteria for the use of wind turbine [2, 3]. This fact has permitted to develop research about new concepts of wind turbines with higher energy production despites a rather low efficiency. This time is partially gone and nowadays, either for on-shore wind turbine installation or off-shore projects; the methodology is rather easy: it consists in choosing a good site (i.e., with a lot of ¡°regular¡± wind) and to put on it wind machines of high nominal power and high efficiency. The reason of these facts is clear. Wind energy production has become an industrial activity, which is now mature. Many studies have been made to attest this reality, for example, [4]. Of course, this activity is of
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.renewable.energy/2014/516964/