How Much Can Small-Scale Wind Energy Production Contribute to Energy Supply in Cities? A Case Study of Berlin

• Published in: Energies (Basel) 2021-09, Vol.14 (17), p.5523
• Main Authors: Wilke, Alina, Shen, Zhiwei, Ritter, Matthias
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alternative energy; Buildings; COVID-19; Datasets; Economic analysis; Economic evaluations; Economic feasibilities; Emissions; Empirical assessment; Energy consumption; Energy industry; Energy transition; Energy utilization; Households; Photovoltaic energy; Photovoltaics; Renewable energy; Renewable resource; Renewable resources; Residential energy; Small-scale wind energies; Sustainable yield; Turbines; Urban environments; Urban wind energy; Wind; Wind energy production; Wind potential assessment; Wind power; Wind speed; Wind turbines
• ISSN: 1996-1073; 1996-1073
• DOI: 10.3390/en14175523

In light of the global effort to limit the temperature rise, many cities have undertaken initiatives to become climate-neutral, making decentralized urban energy production more relevant. This paper addresses the potential of urban wind energy production with small wind turbines, using Berlin as an example. A complete framework from data selection to economic feasibility is constructed to enable the empirical assessment of wind energy for individual buildings and Berlin as a whole. Based on a detailed dataset of all buildings and hourly wind speed on a 1 km2 grid, the results show that multiple turbines on suitable buildings can significantly contribute to households’ energy consumption but fall short of covering the full demand. For individual households, our economic evaluation strongly recommends the self-consumption of the produced electricity. The findings suggest that while the use of small wind turbines should be continuously encouraged, exploring other renewable resources or combination of wind and photovoltaic energy in the urban environment remains important.