Wind Resource Assessment in the Southern Plains of the US: Characterizing Large-Scale Atmospheric Circulation with Cluster Analysis

A new approach for wind resource assessment in the Southern Plains of the US is proposed here. This new approach establishes the baseline frequency of occurrence of large-scale atmospheric circulations (weather regimes) by cluster analysis, using 38-yr NCEP-NCAR reanalysis daily data from 1979-2016. These baseline frequency values can help quantify the departure of wind resource from the long-term mean for a given month. In specific, two scenarios featuring favorable and unfavorable wind energy productions in the Callahan Divide Energy Center of Texas, US, are evaluated by the new approach of wind resource assessment in details. For the favorable scenario, it is found that the jet stream is configured to enhance the southwesterly flow over the Southern Plains, with a frequency of occurrence being nearly three times of the baseline frequency, whereas for the unfavorable scenario, the jet stream is found to suppress the low-level jet over the Southern Plains, with a frequency of occurrence being more than twice the baseline frequency. Hence, the new approach is proven to provide an objective and more efficient way in conducting wind resource assessment.