Investigation into characteristics of both wind energy
resource and wind turbines in Urumqi region
Li Chong1,2, Zheng Yuan3,4, Zhu Dasheng1, Liu Youying1, Li Guo1
1.School of Mechanical Engineering, Nanjing Institute of Technology, Nanjing, Jiangsu 211167, China; 2.College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210098, China; 3.National Engineering Research Center of Water Resources Efficient Utilization and Engineering Safety, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210098, China; 4. College of Energy and Electrical Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210098, China
Abstract：In order to evaluate the characteristics of both wind energy resource at different altitudes and wind turbines in Urumqi region, the wind speed distribution of twoparameter Weibull, variation of wind speed with altitude, wind power density and capacity factor of wind farm are analyzed. Based on the wind speed data at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 m altitudes in that region, the monthly and annual mean wind speeds, annual mean wind power density and probability distribution of wind speed are calculated in a typical meteorological year. Besides, the shape factor, scale factor and cumulative probability of the Weibull distribution at various altitudes are estimated by making use of the maximum likelihood method. Furthermore, eight kinds of small and mediumsized wind turbines are chosen to study their capacity factor and mean power output. As a result, it is shown that the wind energy resource in that region is in between available and rich zones, and the capacity factor for the selected wind turbines is quite small, ranged from 4.4% to 19.8%. This is mainly attributed to the lower mean wind speed in the region. Thus the region is unsuitable for a largescale wind farm, but smallscale wind farms or windhybrid power systems or mechanical systems driven by wind power can be a suitable option.
