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Article
Wind Energy Potential at Elevated Hub Heights in the US Midwest Region
Journal of Energy Engineering
  • Bin Cai, Iowa State University
  • Phuong Vo, WHKS & Co.
  • Sri Sritharan, Iowa State University
  • Eugene S. Takle, Iowa State University
Document Type
Article
Publication Version
Accepted Manuscript
Publication Date
1-1-2021
DOI
10.1061/(ASCE)EY.1943-7897.0000760
Abstract

The U.S. Midwest successfully generates wind power at a hub height of 80 – 90 m and the use of tall towers can reduce the wind energy cost. However, lack of reliable wind data and production estimates at elevated heights hamper this effort. In this paper, wind resources and annual energy production (AEP) are studied using wind data up to 200 m above ground to estimate and validate AEP as a function of hub height at multiple sites. The AEP results show that energy production can increase by about 10% when the hub height is increased to 100 m. It also suggests that the optimal elevated hub height for a given region is not constant. A suitable site-specific height is desirable to minimize the levelized cost of energy (LCOE). Wind information from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory Wind Integration National Dataset (WIND) Toolkit is used as an alternative for estimating AEPs at elevated hub heights. This approach produced somewhat conservative results, confirming its use for wind farm planning purposes when measured wind data are not available.

Comments

This is a manuscript of an article published as Cai, Bin, Phuong Vo, Sri Sritharan, and Eugene S. Takle. "Wind Energy Potential at Elevated Hub Heights in the US Midwest Region." Journal of Energy Engineering 147, no. 4 (2021): 04021023. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)EY.1943-7897.0000760. Posted with permission.

Rights
This material may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the American Society of Civil Engineers. This material may be found at https://ascelibrary.org/doi/pdf/10.1061/%28ASCE%29EY.1943-7897.0000760.
Copyright Owner
American Society of Civil Engineers
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Citation Information
Bin Cai, Phuong Vo, Sri Sritharan and Eugene S. Takle. "Wind Energy Potential at Elevated Hub Heights in the US Midwest Region" Journal of Energy Engineering Vol. 147 Iss. 4 (2021)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/eugene-takle/118/