Clustering Wind Profile Shapes to Estimate Airborne Wind Energy Production

Airborne Wind Energy (AWE) systems use tethered flying devices to access higher altitudes, typically up to 500 meter, where wind is generally stronger and more persistent. To estimate the Annual Energy Production (AEP) of AWE systems, the wind speed statistics close to the ground are typically extrapolated to higher altitudes, introducing substantial uncertainties. A methodology is developed for characterising a site’s wind resource using a set of wind profile shapes. It is demonstrated how this wind resource representation is used together with a performance model to do fast AEP calculations for flexible-kite pumping AWE systems.greenWind Energ