IEA Wind TCP

Coordinator

• TU Delft (Roland Schmehl r.schmehl@tudelft.nl)
• University of Bonn (Philip Bechtle bechtle@physik.uni-bonn.de)

Topics and objectives

This work package will assess the high-altitude wind resource, the related generation performance of deployed AWE technologies, both on the system and on the wind park level, as well as the economics and potential contribution of AWE to the future energy system. Several potential scenarios for the global deployment of AWE will be developed to facilitate the formulation of a roadmap for the AWE sector.

The following tasks will be covered:

• Assessment of the wind resource (up to ~1 km) using available reanalysis data (e.g. ERA5), regional refinements using appropriate mesoscale model data (e.g. DOWA/new US wind atlas by NREL/GWA3/NEWA), and measurement data (e.g. Lidar data).
• Techniques to simplify the use of the wind resource data and improve its usability (e.g. clustering methods for wind profile shapes) and explore compatible system performance characterizations (e.g. a set of power curves for a variety of wind conditions).
• Performance prediction methods distinguishing different AWES architectures, using low to medium fidelity models to generate power curves, which will then be validated by test data from operational AWES in close collaboration with WP2. The impact of short timescale wind variations and turbulences not covered in the reanalysis data shall be assessed.
• Assessment of the electricity generation potential at selected sites, first for Europe and the US, then for other sites, using the derived wind resource data and AWES power curves.
• Combine performance prediction methods with cost models for specific AWES architectures to explore the system/wind farm design space.
• Embed AWES performance and cost models in an energy system model and investigate the deployment in potential markets, such as on- and off-grid or on- and offshore, considering different penetration scenarios.
• Determine economic metrics, such as Levelized costs/profit/revenue of energy (LCOE, LPOE, LROE), etc.

This framework will allow developers to assess how expensive a system is expected to be and how expensive it can be to be economically viable, based on the market. The different stages of model development are systematically interleaved with validation steps, linking also to the reference models of WP2. An optional outcome of the work package is a joint technology assessment approach.

Deliverables

• D1.1 AEP (Annual Energy Production) predictions for selected sites in Europe and US
• D1.2 AEP prediction toolchain documentation
• D1.3 Global high-altitude wind resource atlas
• D1.4 Recommendation on AWE entry-markets

Coordinator

• NC State University (Christopher Vermillion cvermil@ncsu.edu)
• TU Delft (Roland Schmehl r.schmehl@tudelft.nl)

Topics and objectives

This work package will develop key capabilities, tools, and reference cases that support the research and technology development of airborne wind energy systems. It will span from the formulation of the fundamental problem statement of airborne wind energy conversion, through the definition of metrics and performance indicators, specification and development of simulation and assessment tools to the specification of reference models serving as application and educational examples.

The following specific tasks will be targeted:

• Collaborative conduct of a holistic systems engineering approach to identify stakeholder requirements and extract system functional requirements for airborne wind energy systems well considering the different use cases associated with the different markets.
• Identification of commonly used metrics and key performance indicators and determination of gaps between available metrics and the quantification need of functional requirements.
• Development of technology assessment methodologies and tools for the holistic, absolute, and relative assessment of the techno-economic performance of airborne wind energy systems applicable at different technology development stages from concept to high TRL. these methods will be built on the identification and suitable combination of metrics and key performance indicators to reflect detailed specific as well as trade-off-influenced holistic system capabilities.
• Determination of the state of the art of globally available simulation approaches, tools, and platforms. Identification of gaps in the simulation tool landscape and initiation of simulation tool development activities ranging from collaborative development to simulation competitions with embedded use of the developed reference models as test cases.
• Development of key airborne wind energy technology concept reference model(s) representing distinctly different fundamental airborne wind energy technology archetypes.
• Development of validation approaches for the comparison between the simulation tools and prototype test data, and for the upscaling from prototype to a commercial system.

Deliverables

• D2.1 Report and Common definitions of metrics and KPIs and gap analysis
• D2.2 Online dissemination platform for reference model(s) including, system definition, overall design, Concept of Operations and applications examples metrics, and simulation tools
• D2.3 Centralized design tool database
• D2.4 Comparison of simulation and test flight data, validation of simulations, and upscaling assumptions