Wind resource assessment is an important step for the installation of wind farms. Environment Canada’s (EC) Meteorological Center of Canada (CMC) research lab has developed a Wind Energy Simulation Toolkit (WEST). WEST include the MC2 (Canadian Mesoscale Compressible Community Model) mesoscale model, the MSMicro microscale model and a statistical module to establish a regional wind climate at higher resolution. WEST has been applied in the Gaspésie region and in the mountainous regions of Yukon to estimate the wind in complex terrain. WEST currently uses NCEP/NCAR (National Centers for Environmental Prediction / National Center for Atmospheric Research) reanalysis which is outdated. Researchers have shown that ERA5 (ECMWF Reanalysis 5th Generation) reanalysis data from the ECMWF (European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) have good skills and its high resolution is promising for the development of wind power. However, Other research have demonstrated some lack in wind speed which can lead to an underestimation of wind power production, particularly in regions with complex topography.
Therefore, in this context the objective of the current work aims to modernize WEST by modifying the NCEP 2.5° reanalysis database by ERA5 to 0.25° and to evaluate its impact on the potential wind power in the Gaspésie region. The new database is incorporated into WEST’s geostrophic classification scheme to improve frequency tables. Then, a statistical analysis is made on the results. The results are compared with anemometry data from a measurement campaign carried out by the Ministry of Natural Resources of Quebec (MRNQ) and EC. It is shown that the implementation of ERA5 in WEST does not provide the expected return. The results show that ERA5 at 0.25° does not improve frequency tables, especially for the frequency of geostrophic wind (Vg) speed and direction. In fact, this weak performance makes it virtually impossible to use 0.25° ERA reanalysis as it is. This results in increased local variability, which is however not always present depending on the area analyzed. However, the average of the magnitude of Vg (VGM) made it possible to show that there is a reduction in pressure at sea level, which causes an anomaly in the pressure gradient that defines the Vg under the mountain. It is therefore essential to correct the error of the Vg amplified by the relief and to use the ERA5 reanlaysis on the model levels (ETA) (dataset = "reanalysis-era5-complete" instead of dataset = "reanalysis-era5-pressure-levels"). An assessment of the spatial distribution of the histograms and wind roses revealed the erroneous directions and overestimated speeds of ERA5 at 0.25 ° which disappear when used with ERA5 ETA.
WEST is still an interesting model to provide wind fields close to the surface. This is an important tool in the wind energy industry. Thus, by modernizing the WEST reanalysis data source, we aim at improving the model’s ability to simulate the winds in potential areas for the development of a wind farm.
| Date | 21 Jul 2021 |
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| Original language | French |
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| Awarding Institution | - École de technologie supérieure
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| Supervisor | Daniel Rousse (Supervisor) & Robert Benoit (Co-supervisor) |
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Grenier, D. (Author),
Rousse (Supervisor) & Benoit (Co-supervisor),
21 Jul 2021Student thesis: Master's thesis › Master in Engineering: Mechanical Engineering