Wind Characteristics in the Taiwan Strait: A Case Study of the First Offshore Wind Farm in Taiwan

Abstract

This study analyzed the wind speed data of the met mast in the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm of Taiwan from May 2017 to April 2018. The mean wind speed and standard deviation, wind rose, histogram, wind speed profile, and diurnal variation of wind speed with associated changes in wind direction revealed some noteworthy findings. First, the standard deviation of the corresponding mean wind speed is somewhat high. Second, the Hellmann exponent is as low as 0.05. Third, afternoons in winter and nights and early mornings in summer have the highest and lowest wind speed in a year, respectively. Regarding the histogram, the distribution probability of wind is bimodal, which can be depicted as a mixture of two gamma distributions. In addition, the corresponding change between the hourly mean wind speed and wind direction revealed that the land–sea breeze plays a significant role in wind speed distribution, wind profile, and wind energy production. The low Hellmann exponent is discussed in detail. To further clarify the effect of the land–sea breeze for facilitating future wind energy development in Taiwan, we propose some recommendations.