Reducing intermittency using distributed wind energy: Are wind patterns sufficiently diversified within France?

• Published in: Energy (Oxford) 2024-12, Vol.313, p.133516, Article 133516
• Main Authors: Sari, Kheirreddine, Balamane, Walid
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Complementary wind locations; Distributed production; Instance-based clustering; Intermittency measures; Time series clustering; Wind energy
• ISSN: 0360-5442
• DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2024.133516

Wind energy (WE) is a volatile source of electricity production. In France and worldwide, the development of renewable energy sources (RES) is increasing the cost of the energy system; these will increase further to reach the WE target of 33.2 GW of installed capacity by 2028. Moreover, intermittency decreases as the installed capacity is geographically dispersed, hence the importance of investigating distributed wind deployment strategies in complementary locations. However, identifying potential wind energy locations that provide complementarity is challenging, especially given the inherent chaotic nature of wind during time. The objective of this research is to propose an adequate methodology to cluster wind time series (TS) to provide insights on smart planning considering distributed wind energy (WE) production. Results reveal that Shape Based Distance (SBD) classifiers perform best in clustering TS and appear relevant in identifying potential wind complementary locations in France. Ultimately, intermittency measures show that, in the case of complementary wind locations, availability (AVA) can increase by about 31% and the variability can decrease by about 30%. •Clustering wind time series, using a reproducible method, led to the identification of wind complementary locations.•Wind speeds are recorded by weather stations across northwest and southeast of France.•Benchmark of three instance-based clustering techniques using cluster validity index.•Clusters with negative and near-zero correlation exhibit promising potential for complementarity.•Complementary wind parks identification serves as an important step for planning future distributed wind power generation.