en.Wedoany.com Reported - A research team from the Centre for Desertification Research (CIDE), a joint institution of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the University of Valencia (Universitat de València), and the Valencian Regional Government (Generalitat Valenciana), has developed the Standardized Wind Speed Index (SWSI), which can measure and compare wind energy availability anywhere in the world. The findings were published in the journal Atmospheric Research.
As electrification increases and renewable energy expands, understanding when the wind disappears is as important as knowing where it is strongest. The research team analyzed half a century of wind speed records from 2,264 meteorological stations across the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. After rigorous quality control, these records were converted into a standardized scale to construct the SWSI. Lead researcher Miguel Andrés Martín stated that the index can objectively measure the severity of wind energy droughts anywhere, unaffected by climatic differences between regions.
The team validated the index by testing wind energy drought events in the western United States in 2015 and the United Kingdom in 2021, both of which caused a 20% drop in wind power output. Data showed that the U.S. event reached a statistically once-in-sixty-year magnitude; the U.K. event was not a one-time anomaly but persisted throughout the year, with a recurrence period close to 70 years. This tool can help power operators, energy companies, and governments predict production declines and plan more resilient energy systems.
Wind energy droughts are typically associated with atmospheric blocking. Researchers noted that the so-called "stilling" phenomenon—a gradual weakening of average wind speeds in many parts of the world—has been detected by the SWSI, which identified an accumulation of wind energy shortage events in Europe since the late 1990s and a general global slowdown in wind speeds between 1995 and 2010. Current records remain below levels from four decades ago. Climate projections suggest that intensified global warming may make wind energy droughts more frequent in the Mediterranean region.
A lack of wind energy not only affects electricity production but also leads to reduced pollutant dispersion, worsened urban air quality, intensified urban heat island effects, increased frequency of tropical nights, and altered crop transpiration and water resource management. The team believes that the SWSI should be applied not only in the energy sector but also in urban planning, agriculture, public health, and climate change adaptation. CIDE's Climatoc-Lab team is developing a specialized visualization tool to monitor wind conditions in Spain. This platform will help governments, businesses, and the public understand wind energy resources and predict the impacts of future wind energy droughts.
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