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Evaluation of Locations for Small Wind Turbines in Costal Urban Areas Based on a Wind Energy Potential Map

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Abstract

The purpose of the study was to evaluate potential locations for the installation of small wind turbines in urban areas. Four study sites in An-Ping, Tainan were chosen for measurement in this empirical study. The measurement data were used to verify the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. The weather information was gathered in order to understand the overall wind environment in the studied area. CFD software was used to simulate the wind environment in the study area from 16 directions. The distribution of wind environment was first presented, and then the distribution of exceedance probability in each grid, which was based on an exceedance probability assessment, was obtained. In addition to the installation heights of the turbines, the influence of surrounding buildings was taken into consideration. Finally, a wind energy potential map indicating the potential regions and non-potential regions for installing small wind turbines was illustrated by the ArcGIS system. A wind energy potential map, superimposed with locations of buildings of different floor heights, was used to evaluate the possible sites for the installment of small wind turbines at heights of 10, 20, and 30 m. The results proved that installing micro wind turbines in open spaces and on the roofs of three-, four-, and five-story buildings at a height of 20 m is relatively beneficial for coastal urban areas.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by a grant-in-aid for scientific research by the National Science Council of Taiwan under grant NSC 100-26231-E-006-002-ET.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Green Building and New Energy Research Center, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai, 200092, People’s Republic of China

    Chun-Ming Hsieh

  2. Department of Urban Planning, National Cheng Kung University, No.1, University Rd, Tainan, 70101, Taiwan

    Chuan-Kang Fu

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  1. Chun-Ming Hsieh
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  2. Chuan-Kang Fu
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Correspondence to Chun-Ming Hsieh.

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Hsieh, CM., Fu, CK. Evaluation of Locations for Small Wind Turbines in Costal Urban Areas Based on a Wind Energy Potential Map. Environ Model Assess 18, 593–604 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10666-013-9365-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10666-013-9365-3

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