A Comparative Analysis of LiDAR and Wind Mast Measured Wind Data with the Reanalysis Datasets for an Offshore Location of Gujarat

The wind resource assessment is a decisive process for the development of any wind power generation project. The wind data obtained from any single means may have errors which may lead to the wrong estimation of wind speed and hence the power density. Therefore, the data obtained from any source or method has to be verified and validated with another data source in order to make the resource estimation least erroneous. In the present work, the wind data measured by means of LiDAR and wind mast has been compared with the multiple reanalysis datasets (ERA5, EMD-ERA, MERRA2 and CFSR2) for offshore location in Gujarat, India. From the consequences, the conclusion has been drawn that the reanalysis data provides underestimated wind speeds as compared to LiDAR measurements. Further, among the studied reanalysis datasets, the ERA5 data exhibits highest correlation (0.9329) with the LiDAR measured data, which proves it to be most reliable data source among the other considered reanalysis datasets. The LiDAR measured the mean wind speed of 7.41 m/s at 100 m height, which implies to the mean wind power density of 328.24 W/m². Thus, the study location is highly suitable for the establishment of an offshore wind power project.