Wind Energy Resource Modeling and Maps for New England
Note: To view maps of wind resources in your town head to the Community Wind Atlas.
Overview:
The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, in conjunction with the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund and Northeast Utilities, commissioned and funded the preparation of Wind Energy Resource Maps for New England. Maps were developed by TrueWind Solutions, LLC and AWS Scientific, Inc.
Map Types
Southern New England Wind Energy Resource Maps (MA, CT, and RI) were developed in 2002 and have been available on compact disc since July 2002. The modeling and mapping of the remainder of New England (ME, NH, and VT) was completed in the Spring of 2003. Wind data includes:
- predicted mean wind speed at 30 m, 65 m, 70 m and 100 m height; and
- predicted mean wind power at 50 m height.
Enhanced Wind Energy Resource Maps were developed for all of New England and provide maps depicting town borders, state owned land, bathymetry, and transmission lines along with the wind resource information.
New England Wind Energy Resource Maps (for ME, NH, VT, MA, CT, and RI) are available in a searchable electronic format. You can choose any location in New England and zoom in on that area down to a portion that is 200 meters x 200 meters (1/8 mi x 1/8 mile). Wind data includes:
- predicted mean wind speed at 30 m, 50 m, 70 m and 100 m height; and
- predicted mean wind power at 50 m height.
The wind speed and power predictions are generated by a numerical model that simulates weather conditions over a 15-year period, taking into account geophysical inputs such as elevation, land use, and vegetation. Review the Project Reports for more information.
Map Formats
The maps are available in three formats:
- Portable Display Format (pdf) so you can download a map for a particular area (available for all three map types, see table below for links).
- Web-interactive maps which allow the user to zoom in to a particular geographic location (available for New England Wind Energy Resource Maps).
- On CD available from MTC that are compatible with Geographic Information System (GIS); does require installation of Arc Reader or Arc Explorer software available free from ESRI (www.esri.com). GIS maps also allow the user to zoom in to a particular geographic location (available for New England Wind Energy Resource Maps).
Highlights:
Analysis indicates that wind is an economically and technically viable resource for power generation in both coastal and upland areas across the New England region.
Resource availability is concentrated in the hills of western Massachusetts and Connecticut, the mountains of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, and the New England coastal and offshore areas.
Commercial wind power projects using large turbines generally require a mean wind speed of at least 7 m/s or mean power of at least 400 W/m2 (National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) class 4 or higher).
Wind turbines that are designed to operate at lower wind speeds, may be viable at mean speeds as low as 5-6 m/s (NREL class 2 to 3). Small wind turbines would be on shorter towers and would use the 30 m height wind energy resource map.
Download Maps (pdf)
MTC, in conjunction with the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund and Northeast Utilities, has commissioned and funded the preparation of the following Wind Resource Maps for New England. The maps were developed by TrueWind Solutions, LLC and AWS Scientific, Inc.
Southern New England Wind Energy Resource Maps |
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Document |
Date Prepared |
File Type |
File Size |
Wind Speed @ 30 m |
June 2002 |
1,226 KB |
|
Wind Speed @ 65 m |
June 2002 |
1,076 KB |
|
Wind Speed @ 100 m |
June 2002 |
1,148 KB |
|
Wind Power @ 50 m |
June 2002 |
976 KB |
|
New England Enhanced Wind Resource Maps
|
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Wind Energy Resource and State Owned Lands of Massachusetts and Northern Berkshire Region |
April 2003 |
863 KB |
|
Enhanced Map of Massachusetts |
April 2003 |
1,169 KB |
|
Enhanced Map of Massachusetts Bay |
April 2003 |
445 KB |
|
Enhanced Map of Cape Cod Bay |
April 2003 |
465 KB |
|
Enhanced Map of Nantucket Sound and Horseshoe Shoal |
April 2003 |
574 KB |
|
Enhanced Map of Buzzards Bay to Long Island Sound |
April 2003 |
823 KB |
|
New England Wind Energy Resource Maps |
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Wind Speed @ 30 m |
April 2003 |
2,296 KB |
|
Wind Speed @ 50 m |
March 2003 |
2,115 KB |
|
Wind Speed @ 70 m |
March 2003 |
2,212 KB |
|
Wind Speed @ 100 m |
March 2003 |
2,225 KB |
|
Wind Power @ 50 m |
March 2003 |
2,090 KB |
|
Web-interactive Maps
The New England Wind Energy Resource Maps are available in a searchable electronic format at a scale down to 200 meters square for the entire region. These maps are available on the TrueWind Solutions, LLC web site (http://truewind.teamcamelot.com/ne/) and on compact disc from MTC.
To Obtain the Wind Resource Maps on CD:
Wind Energy Resource Maps for all of New England are available on compact disc at no charge. For more information, please contact:
Massachusetts Technology Collaborative
75 North Drive - Innovation Center
Westborough, MA 01581
ATTN: Green Power Program
Or email requests to
mtcwindmaps@masstech.org
Wind Energy Web Links
The Renewable Energy Research Laboratory (RERL) at the University of Masssachusetts at Amherst maintains numerous links to wind power on the web (http://www.ceere.org/rerl/rerl_links.html).
Contact Us
If you or your community is interested in beginning the Collaborative process, need more information, or have questions about your ongoing work with us, feel free to contact us during the week. Our address is:
Massachusetts Technology Collaborative
75 North Drive
Westborough, MA
01581
For general inquiries about the CWC or to get your community started with us, contact:
Chris Clark
508-870-0312 x642
clark@mastech.org