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State Energy Program (SEP) Special Project, Virginia, 2004
The JMU office of the Virginia Wind Energy Collaborative, North Carolina Solar Center, and TVA Public Power Institute (PPI) have identified a collection of tall towers that are appropriate to support wind measurement instrumentation. The objectives of the project are to: - Expand the database for the coastal regions of Virginia and North Carolina and for the mountain ridges in Tennessee.
- Instrument five tall towers with nine anemometers and two wind vanes each.
- Provide date for wind speeds at the 60—120 meter heights.
- Validate collected data against recently developed wind maps and build confidence in their use.
Five tall towers (each taller than 100 meters and located in a wind power class of 3 or greater) have been identified and selected by team members in North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee. The proposed work involves two main tasks to be conducted over an 18 month period: - The instrumentation of each tower
- The collection and analysis of the data.
Towers will be instrumented with anemometers and vanes at 60, 90, and 120 meters. Duplicate anemometers will be used at each tower elevation to avoid tower shadow, and redundant sensors will be used to ensure continuity of wind data. Data will be collected for one year via frequent cellular communications with onsite data archiving for backup. Measured wind speeds and wind shear at elevations above 50 meters will be analyzed to better understand the wind energy potential and the presence of low-level wind shear in these regions. This proposal will improve understanding of wind energy resource, as there are no high height data on coastal winds in Virginia or North Carolina. The selected tower sites are essential to understanding wind resource in these two states because of their proximity to both the ocean and sound waters. Also, no data are available in these two states at heights exceeding 50 meters. Data will show to what extent wind shear will affect wind development on the coast, indicate the precise wind resource available, and provide data at heights ranging from 60 to 120 meters. A fifth tower is in a wind power class 4 and will provide information on wind shear effects in the mountains of Tennessee. James Madison University's Department of Integrated Science and Technology will be responsible for site visits, tower instrumentation, and data analysis for the two towers in coastal Virginia. Similarly, the North Carolina Solar Center at NC State University will conduct preliminary site visits for two tower locations, oversee their instrumentation, and lead quarterly and annual analysis. Tennessee Valley Authority will also complete a site visit, instrument, and collect and analyze data for a single tall tower in Tennessee.
SEP Topics
Wind Energy
DOE Funding
Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program
$122,059
Contact Virginia's State Energy Office for more information.
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