Research and Development Projects
Minnesota Wind Resource Maps
A series of maps, developed for the Minnesota Department of Commerce, to depict average wind annual wind speeds at 30, 80 and 100 meters above ground surface, along with capacity factors and energy production for a typical 1.65 MW wind turbine.
Minnesota Wind Integration Studies
Studies analyzing the cost and reliability issues associated with generating up to 25% of Minnesota’s retail electric energy using wind power.
Technical Papers
Incorporating Weather Analysis in Performance Assessment
A new method for examining wind resource impacts on plant performance, involving careful meteorological analysis combined with comprehensive long-term site and/or portfolio analysis.
The Long-Term Wind Resource
A summary of research into different sources of long-term wind data, their correlation with tall tower data, and errors associated with wind resource estimates.
Technical Presentations
Integrating Renewable Energy into the North American Power Grid: Realities, Challenges and Opportunities
An overview of variable renewable energy and its integration into the power system.
American Meteorological Society, First Conference on Weather, Climate and the New Energy Economy, January 2010.
Ramp Forecasting: Meteorology and Challenges
An overview of the meteorological causes of ramp events and the challenges in forecasting them.
Utility Wind Integration Group, Fall Technical Workshop, October 2009.
Solar Power Forecasting
A perspective on the challenges of solar power forecasting and an overview of the current forecasting techniques.
Utility Wind Integration Group, Utility-Scale PV Variability Workshop, October 2009.
Managing the Impact of Wind Variability Through Integrated Forecasting
A system-wide approach to wind energy forecasting that aggregates multiple wind farms and applies the latest technology to improve accuracy, delivering key information to control room operators for optimum grid performance.
Latin America Wind Energy Association, Annual Conference, September 2009.
Assessing the Impact of Wind on the Electric Grid
An overview of critical data and advanced methods for assessing the addition of wind energy to the grid and successful research in the area.
Latin America Wind Energy Association, Annual Conference, September 2009.
Advanced Visualization for Evaluating Met Tower Data
Advanced dashboard techniques for ready access to quality-controlled met tower data, data communication issues and preliminary wind data analysis.
Canadian Wind Energy Association, Annual Conference, October 2008.
Visualizing Constraints in Wind Forecasts
A presentation of actionable information that different forecast end users require to reduce uncertainty in wind power forecasts.
American Wind Energy Association, Annual Conference, June 2008.
Using Dashboards to Harness Your Met Tower Data
Methodology for depicting common met tower failures and managing data quality control.
American Wind Energy Association, Annual Conference, June 2008.
