Library >> Renewable Energy Resource Maps >> Latin America >> Wind

Wind Energy Potential in LATIN AMERICA

Map of mean 80-m wind speeds for year 2000

Wind speeds are calculated at 80 m, the hub height of modern, 77-m diameter, 1500 kW turbines. Since relatively few observations are available at 80 m, the Least Square extrapolation technique is utilized and revised here to obtain estimates of wind speeds at 80 m given observed wind speeds at 10 m (widely available) and a network of sounding stations.

Tower data from the Kennedy Space Center (Florida) were used to validate the results. Globally, ~13% of all reporting stations experience annual mean wind speeds ≥ 6.9 m/s at 80 m (i.e., wind power class 3 or greater) and can therefore be considered suitable for low-cost wind power generation.
This estimate is believed to be conservative. Areas with great potential are found in at the southern tip of the South American continent.

http://www.stanford.edu/group/efmh/winds/global_winds.html

Availability of standardized evaluations of the wind energy potential

Wind energy potential can not easily be shown in simple overwiew maps. The map indicates the countries for which wind energy evaluations are available. These have been carried out by means of a standardized method developped by the danish Risø Laboratory.

http://www.energie-atlas.ch/wi-100.htm

Countries

Antigua and Barbuda | Argentina | Bahamas | Barbados | Belize | Brazil | Bolivia | Chile | Colombia | Costa Rica | Cuba | Dominica | Dominican Republic | Ecuador | El Salvador | French Guayana | Grenada | Guatemala | Guyana | Haiti | Honduras | Jamaica | Mexico | Nicaragua | Panama | Paraguay | Peru | Saint Kitts and Nevis | Saint Lucia | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Suriname | Trinidad Tobago | Uruguay | Venezuela

Related GENI Resources

Definition Wind Energy
Current Articles on Renewable Energy Resources and Transmission
National Energy Grid Maps

Links

SWERA (Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment)
OLADE (Latin American Energy Organization)
ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean)