The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has launched the Wind Resource Database with support from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO). This online platform aims to facilitate the transition to clean, secure, and affordable energy by providing comprehensive wind resource data.
Stakeholders in the wind energy community, such as industry, utilities, planners, regulators, policymakers, and researchers, can access this data for various purposes, including site assessment and long-term planning. The database offers public access to over one million gigabytes of detailed wind resource data covering the United States and other countries. It replaces NREL’s former Wind Prospector tool and provides interactive maps and simplified data retrieval. The database covers regions in the United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Southeast Asia, and Ukraine. Key features include datasets at 5-minute, 2-kilometer resolution, aggregated wind energy statistics, and meteorological information valuable for wind energy applications. A primary feature of the database is the WIND Toolkit Long-term Ensemble Dataset (WTK-LED), which provides users with a range of possible wind speeds at 5-minute intervals every 2 kilometers. It includes high-resolution data for the contiguous United States, Hawaii, and Alaska, as well as model uncertainty information. The database aims to be a comprehensive resource for stakeholders seeking high-quality wind resource data, enabling them to make informed decisions about wind energy projects.
