Meteorological aspects of siting large wind turbines

This report, which focuses on the meteorological aspects of siting large wind turbines (turbines with a rated output exceeding 100 kW), has four main goals. The first is to outline the elements of a siting strategy that will identify the most favorable wind energy sites in a region and that will provide sufficient wind data to make responsible economic evaluations of the site wind resource possible. The second is to critique and summarize siting techniques that were studied in the Department of Energy (DOE) Wind Energy Program. The third goal is to educate utility technical personnel, engineering consultants, and meteorological consultants (who may have not yet undertaken wind energy consulting) on meteorological phenomena relevant to wind turbine siting in order to enhance dialogues between these groups. The fourth goal is to minimize the chances of failure of early siting programs due to insufficient understanding of wind behavior.