New Wind Resource Maps Reach Higher Heights

Aug. 11, 2015 | By Kelly Yaker | Contact media relations

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory and AWS Truepower LLC recently released maps that illustrate the potential for wind energy development using more advanced wind turbine technologies. Wind resource maps are one tool wind industry professionals use in the early stages of wind project planning to understand the potential for wind development in a region. Because stronger and more consistent winds are typically found at higher heights, these new maps show the concentration of land areas with capacity factors over 35% at turbine hub heights of 110 and 140 meters (361 and 459 feet), representing recent and planned turbine advancements. DOE estimates that enabling the cost-effective deployment of wind turbines with hub heights up to 140 meters will unlock additional wind power resource potential across 1,137,565 square miles of the United States.