Survey of the winds on the Island of Hawaii for potential wind power generation. Part 1: mobile sampling program, 3 September-12 September 1976

Technical Report · Mon Nov 01 00:00:00 EST 1976

OSTI ID:5899506

Schroeder, T A; Tarlton, T G; Daniels, P A

A preliminary attempt was made on the island of Hawaii to identify areas where the winds favor electric power generation. Physical reasoning and observational evidence were used. Between 3 and 12 September 1976 anemometers on mobile platforms sampled wind speed and direction at 15 locations in the North and South Kohala districts. Local winds were related to larger scale flow by an objective procedure used by Hawaiian forecasters. Winds were favorable at most locations averaging 9.8 m sec/sup -1/ (20.9 mph) for the 600 hours of observations. The Kohala Mountains, Waimea Saddle, and Upolu Point areas appear to be potential wind power sites; we plan to install long-term monitoring stations in those areas. On the basis of a hand-held anemometer survey South Point (Ka Lae) appears to be another favorable site. For the island of Hawaii wind power seems an attractive alternate energy source. Its role in the island energy system is discussed.

• Research Organization: Hawaii Univ., Honolulu (USA). Dept. of Meteorology
• OSTI ID: 5899506
• Report Number(s): UHMET-76-07; ON: DE82901504
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

17 WIND ENERGY
HAWAII
WIND POWER
AVAILABILITY
RESOURCE ASSESSMENT
DATA COMPILATION
MONITORING
DATA
ENERGY SOURCES
INFORMATION
NORTH AMERICA
NUMERICAL DATA
POWER
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
USA
WESTERN REGION
170100* - Wind Energy- Resources & Availability (Climatology)
170604 - Wind Energy Engineering- Site Characteristics