Comparative Study of the Reanalysis and Instrument Data for Wind Energy Potential Assessment of Southwest Region in India

Climate change and global warming accelerated the much-needed transition from conventional energy to renewable energy globally in addition to the anxiety of depletion of fossil fuel resources. In India, the use of renewable energy is steadily growing displaying the country's commitment to sustainable development. In this study, an analysis of wind potential assessment has been made in the southwest region of India by comparing the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Re-Analysis v5 (ERA5) and Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA2) reanalysis data sets. Hourly wind speeds and directions for all days for 20 years from 2001 to 2020 are collected for a location in the region. The daily, monthly, and annual average wind speeds are determined for both data sets. The wind rose diagrams for the location are also created using the Windrose Axes library in the Python environment. These data are also compared with the instrument data for one year to find the most appropriate reanalysis data set for the region. From the analysis, it has been noted that the ERA5 data sets are closer to the instrument data. The available wind speeds are categorized as calm to moderate breeze as in the Beaufort scale in the range of 0.3–8 m/s. This points out the necessity of developing small wind turbines with small cut-in and rated speeds for maximum wind power generation. This methodology can be extended to other regions too.