Urban Wind: An Alternative for Sustainable Cities

Abstract

The climate emergency has intensified the search for the generation of electricity from renewable energies in order to turn cities into sustainable cities. Small-scale wind power offers new opportunities for decentralized electricity production, avoiding dependence on the grid and transmission losses. Among viable locations within the urban environment, high-rise buildings are especially promising due to the elevated height and less turbulent wind conditions. They can also be integrated into the architecture of the building or as independent units in the urban environment. In this area, this work presents a methodology for determining the annual energy production of urban wind projects. The proposal is divided into four stages: location, wind and urban indicators, turbine selection and annual production estimation, and economic/environmental analysis. The evaluation of the solution is carried out for a Spanish case study. According to the results, more than 68,000 kWh/year can be generated with an investment recovery period of less than six years.

Stochastic operation model for readiness assessment of small wind turbines based on Markov theory

“…Among the possible options, tall buildings, higher than the surrounding structures, seem to be particularly suitable, resulting in faster flow and less wind turbulence. Turbines can also be integrated into building architecture or as separate units in the urban environment [64][65][66].…”

Assessment of Urban Wind Potential and the Stakeholders Involved in Energy Decision-Making

“…Several methodologies have been presented for the comprehensive evaluation of urban wind energy potential. Basically, the methodologies include the stages of selection and characterization of the study area, the evaluation of the wind resource through various methods, the selection of the most appropriate wind turbine, the estimation of annual energy production, an economic estimation, an environmental impact evaluation and the evaluation of resilience [26,27,42]. Recently, tools for strategic planning have been included in existing methodologies, such as the SOWT-AHP analysis, to identify internal and external and positive and negative factors that can be included in the dissemination and use of this type of distributed technology [29].…”

“…Usually, these applications provide meteorological parameters, such as wind speed and direction, temperature, barometric pressure, relative humidity, etc., at 10, 50, 100 and 150 m heights above the surface, and contain a seasonal variation during the year [44]. This approach, with mesoscale resolution, is important for identifying potential areas with greater wind energy rapidly and economically [26]. Recently, in Serbia, 16 potential locations for the production of half of the demand with wind energy were determined through a wind energy potential characterization program utilizing GIS data.…”

“…Furthermore, they indicated that to improve the performance of the distributed energy system, it could be complemented with other systems, such as solar photovoltaics. Gil-García et al [26] carried out a Rezaeiha et al [20] presented a methodology for wind energy assessment in the Netherlands. The authors determined an annual potential of 150.1 GWh in the 12 largest cities of the Netherlands, through the characterisation of existing buildings, urban wind analysis, SWT selection and annual energy production estimation.…”

“…Furthermore, they indicated that to improve the performance of the distributed energy system, it could be complemented with other systems, such as solar photovoltaics. Gil-García et al [26] carried out a study of urban wind potential in Spain. The authors presented a very detailed methodology consisting of site selection, wind potential study, annual energy estimation and economic and environmental analysis.…”