A Metropolitan Wind Resource Assessment for Bangkok, Thailand Part 1: Wind Resource Mapping

Abstract

Increased awareness of wind energy in Thailand has resulted in growing numbers of wind turbine installations in and around Bangkok province, the capital. However, little is known about the wind resource and its variation across the province. To address this, a two-part assessment was conducted, the first of which is described here: the development of a set of 1-km resolution wind resource maps at multiple heights (up to 300 m above ground level) using atmospheric modeling that was enhanced with satellite-derived land-related data to better resolve winds over urban spatial zones. Simulated wind resource maps show the annual wind resource within 100 m of the ground is poorest over the city center (<125 W m^-2 at 100 m) and strongest in the southwest coastal area (up to 200 W m^-2). Wind resource becomes stronger with height, and at heights of 200-300 m and above it varies little across the province (200-300Wm^-2). The results found here provide input for the second paper, in which the overall technical wind resource potential is estimated for Bangkok in terms of electricity generation using geographical information system (GIS) analysis.