Wind energy resources around the Korean peninsula are investigated using the QuikSCAT satellite data from Jan 2000 to Dec 2008. The QuikSCAT satellite is a specialized device for a microwave scatterometer that measures near-surface wind speed and dire...
Wind energy resources around the Korean peninsula are investigated using the QuikSCAT satellite data from Jan 2000 to Dec 2008. The QuikSCAT satellite is a specialized device for a microwave scatterometer that measures near-surface wind speed and direction under all weather and cloud conditions. Wind speed measured at 10 m above from the sea surface was extrapolated to the hub height by using the power law model. It has been found that the high wind energy is prevailing in the south sea and the east sea of the Korean peninsula. From the limitation of seawater depth for piling the tower and archipelagic environment around the south sea, the west and the south-west sea are favorable to construct the large scale offshore wind farm, but it needs an efficient blade considering relatively low wind speed.
The QuikSCAT satellite data are compared with the computed wind resource map and measured data offered from the Korea Meteorological Agency. The compared data at the later half of the year coincide very well each other.
Wake effects behind the Wi-do island at south-west sea of the Korean peninsula are also carried out to develop the offshore wind farm nearby the island. The principal wind direction can be determined from the data processing of the QuikSCAT satellite data around the island. Computational fluid dynamics is adopted to investigate the wake effect. About 5% of the velocity defect and 14% of the output loss are observed behind the Wi-do island.