Analysis of wind power flow on different heights in Ventspils region based on measurements by Pentalum SpiDAR

Nowadays energy issues and energy independence topics, including renewable energy sources, are widely discussed on local Latvian and EU level. Wind energy is one of the alternative energy sources which is fast-growing and is sustainable in long-term perspective. One of the main requirements for wind energy sector development and wind farm building is availability of reliable information about wind energy distribution in the region for a long time period and prediction of wind turbine energy production with smallest possible uncertainty. In this paper analysis of wind shear on heights up to 200 m for different time scales is performed. Conclusions are made about diurnal, monthly and seasonal variations of wind power distribution and possible energy production based on one-year wind measurements data. Wind measurements are done using wind measurement complex Pentalum SpiDAR, which is located on-shore in Ventspils region, Latvia during a one-year period from 03.2014 to 03.2015. To have realistic calculated numbers for potential power production power curves of several types of WT with rated power from 50 to 3000 kW are used. Additionally, an analysis of the diurnal variation of energy production is made to evaluate the possibility of using wind turbines as one of the main sources of energy in the region. As well, publicly available website is developed for visualisation of the collected wind data, showing basic information for the whole measured period (average, min, max values per day) and demonstrating wind speed distribution curves. This website is dedicated for educational and research purposes allowing easily derive detailed information of wind parameters.