Characterization of the Wind Power Resource in Europe and its Intermittency

Abstract

Wind power is assessed over Europe, with special attention given to the quantification of intermittency. Using the methodology developed in Gunturu and Schlosser (2011), the MERRA boundary flux data was used to compute wind power density profiles over Europe. Besides of the analysis of capacity factor, other metrics are presented to further quantify the availability and reliability of this resource and the extent to which wind-power intermittency is coincident across Europe. The analyses find that, consistent with previous studies, the majority of European wind power resources are located offshore. The largest wind power resources at onshore locations are found to be over Iceland, the United Kingdom, and along the northern coastlines of continental Europe. Other isolated pockets of higher wind power are found over Spain and along the Mediterranean coast of France. Overall, the availability of onshore wind power is low and is highly intermittent, while offshore locations show a high degree of persistence. However, for the strongest onshore locations of wind power—primarily over northern coastlines as well as the United Kingdom and Iceland—the evidence indicates that intermittency can be reduced by aggregation and interconnection of wind-power installations.