Wind power resource assessment and wind-hydrogen generation potential: a case study

A case study of assessing wind power generation potentials for seven locations in a district of India is presented in the paper with special focus on small wind turbines with low cut in speeds operating in hybrid complementary mode with a hydrogen generation system. The major motivation for the study is to accelerate the efforts for the region toward carbon neutral status. The wind speeds are obtained for one hour time intervals for all days for 20 years during the time period 2001-2020 for the seven locations from European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis v5 (ERA-5) data. Mean wind speeds for the period are analyzed and wind rose diagrams are generated using the WindroseAxes library in Python environment. Wind power potential assessment has been carried out using the data. From the analysis, it has been noted that the coastal and southern regions of the district get higher wind speeds and have higher power generation potential. Analysis has shown that based on the Beaufort scale, usually the available wind speed is in the calm to moderate breeze types (<0.3-8 m/s). Study has shown that deployment of small wind turbines may be beneficial, to potentially facilitate decentralized power generation. A small wind turbine with cut-in speed 2.5 m/s and cutoff speed 15.5 m/s is selected for the study. The region has a generic upper speed availability of 8 m/s. The corresponding wind power potential values are 0.84 and 27.58 kW. Hydrogen, considered as an energy carrier, and a clean fuel for the future, is proposed as an option for complementary energy storage. Hydrogen, generated from wind energy through electrolysis, may be stored and used to meet the peak power demands. A preliminary analysis of the hydrogen generation potential of the region via the power-to-gas route is also presented. The analysis also points to the necessity for developing small wind turbines, which can generate power at lower cut-in speeds, for maximum utilization of wind power generation potential. The methodology can be adapted to other regions.