Short-term observation of wind energy potentiality in the Wol-Ryong wind site

Accurate analysis of the atmospheric wind profiles and climate characteristics in a certain area is a prerequisite for providing reliable information on a wind energy site. Two 2-D ultrasonic anemometers and one cup anemometer, arranged perpendicularly to the prevailing wind direction, were used to measure the atmospheric wind environment at a height of 4.5 m in the coastal region of Wol-Ryong, Jeju, South Korea. This study aims to estimate future wind resources with various estimation methods. The wind energy is theoretically estimated at 75 m, the hub height of 800 kW and 1500-kW-class wind turbines, at the Wol-Ryong site. Methods using three equations, a logarithmic profile, a modified logarithmic profile, and a power law, are applied for accurate prediction of the atmospheric wind profile. In addition, yearly wind power can be calculated by using the probability distribution from Weibull and Rayleigh profiles. It is found that the predicted wind speed is strongly affected by surface atmospheric conditions such as the friction velocity, atmospheric stability, and averaged roughness length. The Rayleigh profile gives more power generation than the Weibull distribution, especially under low-windspeed conditions. The logarithmic profile method seems to be the proper method for estimating the energy production at the Wol-Ryong site for neutral atmospheric conditions. On the other hand, the other two methods — the modified logarithmic profile method and the power law method — seem to be improper for neutral conditions.