Wind Maps and Wind Resource Potential Estimates

May 17, 2010 - U.S.Department of Energy - windpoweringamerica.gov

Wind Powering America provides high-resolution state wind maps and estimates of the wind resource potential that would be possible from development of the available windy land areas after excluding areas unlikely to be developed. Here you will find an 80-meter wind resource map for the contiguous United States with links to individual state wind maps and a chart showing the wind resource potential for the contiguous United States. Also find links to the Webinar and news release. Some of the following documents are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs. Download Adobe Reader.

United States and State — 80-Meter Wind Resource Maps

The U.S. map shows the predicted mean annual wind speeds at 80-m height (at a spatial resolution of 2.5 km that is interpolated to a finer scale). Areas with annual average wind speeds around 6.5 m/s and greater at 80-m height are generally considered to have suitable wind resource for wind development.

NREL has conducted a preliminary review and validation of the AWS Truewind's 80-m map estimates for 19 selected states (6 Western states, 6 Midwestern states, and 7 Eastern states) based on tower measurements at heights of about 50 m and above from more than 300 locations.

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United States — Wind Resource Potential

Additionally, a national dataset was produced of estimated gross capacity factor (not adjusted for losses) at a spatial resolution of 200 m and heights of 80 m and 100 m. Using AWS Truewind's gross capacity factor data, NREL estimated the windy land area and wind energy potential in various capacity factor ranges for each state. The table (Excel 108 KB) lists the estimates of windy land area with a gross capacity of 30% and greater at 80-m height and the wind energy potential from development of the "available" windy land area after exclusions. The "Installed Capacity" is the potential megawatts (MW) of rated capacity that could be installed on the available windy land area, and the "Annual Generation" is the estimated annual wind energy generation in gigawatt-hours (GWh) that could be produced from the installed capacity. NREL reduced the wind potential estimates by excluding areas unlikely to be developed such as wilderness areas, parks, urban areas, and water features (see Wind Resource Exclusion Table for more detail). Additional wind potential tables (Excel 208 KB) are included for various capacity factor ranges.

NREL produced charts showing the wind resource potential above a given gross capacity factor at both 80-m and 100-m heights. Here is the wind potential chart for the contiguous United States. Additional wind potential charts are included for each state. Click on the U.S. map to view individual state maps and charts.

These maps and wind potential estimates resulted from a collaborative project between the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and AWS Truewind of Albany, New York. This is the first comprehensive update of the wind energy potential by state since 1993. NREL has worked with AWS Truewind for almost a decade on updating wind resource maps for 36 states and producing validated maps for 50-meter height above ground. U.S. Department of Energy's Wind Powering America project supported the mapping efforts.

Before you plan to install your own wind turbine or wind farm, you must know if the wind resource in your location is adequate. From wind resource maps, you can determine if your area of interest should be further explored. Wind resource at a micro level can vary significantly; therefore, you should get a professional evaluation of your specific area of interest.