The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has unveiled a groundbreaking Wind Resource Database aimed at supporting the transition to a cleaner, more secure, and affordable energy future. The database, developed to aid wind energy developers and industry stakeholders, offers extensive high-resolution temporal and spatial datasets, facilitating informed decision-making and planning processes.
Dr. Caroline Draxl, a wind researcher at NREL involved in the database’s development, emphasized its primary function: “The Wind Resource Database provides crucial data for identifying optimal locations for wind turbine installation and wind farm development. With user-friendly interactive maps and simplified data retrieval, it caters to a wide range of users, from industry professionals to those seeking insights into available wind resources.”
The Wind Resource Database grants open access to over a petabyte of meticulously detailed wind resource data encompassing the United States and several other countries. This vast dataset, equivalent to approximately 250 million MP3 songs, offers an unparalleled resource for wind energy analysis and planning efforts.
Nicholas Gilroy, manager of NREL’s software development group and lead developer of the database, highlighted its expansive coverage and advanced functionalities: “The platform spans various regions across the globe, including the contiguous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Southeast Asia, and Ukraine. Users can visualize and download data for offline use, with options to extract specific information efficiently.”
Key features of the Wind Resource Database include:
Over one petabyte of high-value wind resource data
Datasets offering five-minute, 2-kilometer resolution for diverse regions globally
Aggregated wind energy statistics and meteorological information essential for wind energy applications
Continuous updates and expansion of NREL wind datasets over time.
Dr. Draxl emphasized the robustness of the platform’s backend infrastructure, designed to meet stringent security requirements and ensure seamless maintenance in the future. However, she also advised users to supplement the data with real-world observations to mitigate inherent uncertainties associated with computer-generated models.
An integral component of the Wind Resource Database is the WIND Toolkit Long-term Ensemble Dataset (WTK-LED), an update to NREL’s Wind Integration National Dataset Toolkit. WTK-LED provides users with a comprehensive range of wind speed data at five-minute intervals across various altitudes, enabling accurate modeling of wind patterns crucial for wind energy applications.
The development of the Wind Resource Database was made possible through collaborative efforts and support from several partners, including the U.S. Department of Energy’s Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO), the Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI) Data Lake, Amazon Web Services (AWS) Open Data Sponsorship Program, and the HDF Group’s Highly Scalable Digital Service (HSDS).
Gilroy emphasized the database’s potential for international outreach, particularly in assisting developing countries in assessing their renewable energy deployment potential. With substantial international datasets integrated into the platform, the Wind Resource Database is poised to play a pivotal role in shaping global renewable energy strategies and initiatives.