Sub-Regional Variability in Wind Turbine Blade Leading-Edge Erosion Potential

Leading Edge Erosion (LEE) of wind turbine blades leads to significant degradation of aerodynamic performance. Previous research has suggested kinetic energy transferred to the rotating blades from hydrometeor impacts are an important source of LEE. The Southern Great Plains (SGP) of the United States has substantial wind energy development and experiences a high frequency of heavy rain and hail that contribute to atypically high LEE potential. The current study quantifies the degree to which the drivers of LEE exhibit sub-regional variability across a 500,000 km(2) area of the SGP. The analysis uses five years of data from nine RADAR stations to characterize the precipitation climate and wind speeds from ERAS. The results illustrate strong spatial gradients in all three atmospheric drivers of LEE: (i) Frequency of power producing wind speeds. (ii) Occurrence of intense precipitation. (iii) Occurrence of hail and maximum hail size. For example, annual precipitation varies by a factor of 10 across Texas and the prevalence of hail events ranges from hundreds of 5-minute events per year to nearly zero. Northwestern Texas has high wind turbine installed capacity and high joint probability of hail and/or heavy precipitation and power-producing wind speeds.