On the annual cycle of meteorological and geographical potential of wind energy: A case study from southwest Germany

Abstract

Wind energy in Germany has experienced high growth rates over the last few years. The setpolitical target in the German federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg is to raise the share of windenergy in the overall electricity supply to 10% by 2020. To achieve this goal, detailed information onwind energy potential in Baden-Wuerttemberg is necessary. This study assesses the geographicalwind energy potential (GP) in Baden-Wuerttemberg giving a guideline to identify suitable locationsfor wind energy utilization. The focus of this investigation lies in assessing GP for the mean annualmeteorological wind energy potential (MP) as well as for the mean MP in December and Augustproviding information on the seasonal behavior of wind power availability. A GIS-based approach isemployed to identify sites without geographical restrictions and with sufficient MP at hub heightsof 100 m, 140 m, and 200 m. The study finds that (1) the number of possible sites for wind energyutilization is strongly limited by geographical restrictions, (2) GP is highly dependent on MP and,therefore, (3) GP varies highly throughout a year since MP depends on the seasonal pattern of windspeed in Central Europe, showing high values in winter and low values in summer.