Abstract
Wind energy is one of the promising renewable energies that could provide electricity and other mechanical power. Wind energy market is dramatically growing in many European countries, but wind power is only 0.2% of the total renewable energy uses that is only about 2% of the primary energy consumption in Korea. It is widely accepted that wind resources fur power generation are only limited in some areas including coastal regions and mountainous areas in Gangwon province in Korea, particularly in terms of large scale wind power developments. In this study, wind velocity data were analyzed with respect to the potential utilization. The data provided from National Weather Service were used for the analysis. In addition, field wind data were also collected and analyzed for the comparison between the national data. The comparison showed that there were significant differences between the experimental station and the national station that are about 5km away. Annual average wind speed at the experimental station was less than 2 m/s, which is not enough fur wind power generation. It seemed that the topographic condition resulted in a significant difference in wind speed. When 600 W and 2.5 kW wind turbines were used, annual power productions were only 186 kWh and 598 kWh, respectively. When the average wind speed is lower, wind pumping is an alternative use of wind. At the experimental station, the average pumping rate of $3m^3/h$ at the head of 3 m was expected at a 2.5 m rotor under the conditions that efficiencies of the rotor and the pump were 40% and 80%, respectively. It did not seem that the wind pumping was not applicable at the station either. A higher wind speed was required to install the wind machines. Meanwhile, wind pumping would be applicable in conditions with lower pumping heads. Other applications were introduced far further wind energy utilization, including wind powered ventilation and friction heat generation in greenhouses.
