Wind farmers get windy years

After a few lean wind years, wind farmers can count on windy years again. That is what the KNMI claims on the basis of 14 climate scenarios.

2016 was a bad year for wind farms in the Netherlands. This was the result of a low electricity price and less wind. The future of wind energy therefore seems uncertain. However, that is not entirely true.

Variation between years
Wind measurements at a height of 80 meters show that there was relatively little wind in 2016. Certainly when we compare that with 2015, when the wind was blowing above average. However, what is particularly striking is the large variation between the different years. Last year doesn't seem to be an outlier. As a result, we can conclude that the low-wind 2016 is a coincidence and does not appear to be a trend.

A number of other factors are also important, such as variations in seawater temperature. In addition, high and low pressure areas influence each other's strength and position. In a continuous process they arise from small disturbances, then develop into storms or wind-poor high-pressure areas and then ebb away again. The number of possibilities for this to happen is enormous and explains why the wind in our country varies so much, according to the weather institute.

Small changes
For the coming years it will be KNMI assume that the changes in wind speed and number of storm days, relative to the natural fluctuations, are small. It is therefore expected that windy years will follow after lean wind years.

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