NUMERICAL EVALUATION OF THE WIND ENERGY RESOURCE OF LIGURIA

The procedure applied and the results obtained to ascertain the wind r esource of Liguria (Italy) are presented. Liguria is squeezed between the sea and the mountains, with few flat areas, short valleys, and oft en continuous housing close to the coast. In such a complex situation, the identification of areas suitable for installing wind turbines nee ds a complex procedure based on different disciplines, one of which is the numerical modelling of wind fields. The present study, based on t he measurements performed in stations with long and continuous time se ries, has pointed out the high wind resource in areas near the shoreli ne and on tops and ridges of mountains and hills. Indeed the annual av erage wind energy flux was calculated and found to be quite high (in e xcess of 600 W/(m(2)yr) at 30 m) in these areas, which makes Liguria a likely candidate for wind power utilization. (C) 1998 Published by El sevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.