RP wind atlas completed

The country now has a wind atlas (collection of maps)

It was generated by the United states-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) with inputs from the DOST-Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), National Power Corp. (Napocor), and US National Climatic Data Center (NCDC)

The atlas was created using an advanced computerized mapping system called Geographical Information System (GIS) which incorporates gridded terrain data and formatted meteorological data

Surface, satellite, and upper-air data were assembled, processed, and analyzed. The datasets included information provided by PAGASA, Napocor, NCDC, and other US data

The atlas showed that the best wind resources are found in several regions. More than 10,000 square kilometers of windy land areas have been estimated to exist with good-to-excellent wind resource potential

Wind power is classified into marginal, moderate, good, and excellent

In general, locations with an annual average wind speed of 6.5-7 meters per second d(MPS) or greater are most suitable for utility grid-connected wind-energy systems

Wind power applications are typically viable at lower wind speeds (5.5-5 mps, and in some cases at wind speeds as low as 4.5 mps

"The map," said DOST, supporters Philippine government efforts to promote the development of wind energy and complements the current monitoring of prospective wind sites in various parts of the country. Developments will be guided to initiate investment activities in either site-specific resources development or wind power generation

The atlas is available for dissemination in soft and hard copy formats, according to DOST. – RAF