Pragmatic Wind Modeling

Intelligent selection of wind models for complex terrain in Germany and Switzerland

One of the first steps in predicting the performance of a wind farm is to model the winds around the site. There are many models available to do this; some are available as services, and others are intended as research tools. They can resolve different physical processes and run at different spatial and temporal resolutions. Each choice about model setup and resolution that is made impacts the cost of running that model – and the accuracy of the output.

So, which models are the best? How can we judge the cost-benefit of a range of models? And which factors influence the outcomes?

These questions form the core research in two aligned German and Swiss research projects. The project partners will be running several different models and assessing the accuracy against data from the WindForS WINSENT facility and several other sites in Germany and Switzerland.

Results are expected throughout 2019 and 2020.

The project is led and coordinated by researchers in Switzerland and Germany:

  • Professor Dr. Hermann Knaus at HS Esslingen.
  • Dr. Sarah Barber at HS Rapperswil.

PROJECT FUNDING

HS Esslingen and Stadtwerke Tübingen are funded by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt DBU (German Federal Environmental Foundation):

 

Hochschule für Technik Rapperswil and Meteotest are funded by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (BFE):

  • Project number 8100068
  • Project duration 01.1.2019 – 31.12.2020

Funding for the Swiss partners has also been received from ewz, Enercon, ADEV, and BKW Energie.

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