Combining both data on energy prices and wind speed, the Wind Energy Price Analyzer creates reports on the value of wind at different sites in Iowa and Illinois. After choosing a node point and year, the tool will use wind speed data from a nearby weather station to calculate the output from a 20MW Wind Farm located at the node point for every hour of the year. By combining the energy output with the real-time energy price, the total revenue from a wind farm at that site can be studied. The tool allows sites for wind farms to be analyzed based on amount of revenue generated rather than just on the area's wind resource alone. My main project for The Data Incubator used this tool to determine which sites in Iowa and Illinois were most favorable for new wind farms and also determined which regions need upgrades to transmission to improve revenue streams.
***Tool not built, but an interesting case I considered in 2016*** Using the same model for determining wind output and farm revenue as the Wind Energy Price Analyzer. This tool generates a report helping to determine what types of fixed for floating contract are valuable for customers to engage in. It is often difficult to know in advance what the average selling price for wind power will be in an area and if the location is wind saturated, these values can differ significantly from average values reported by all generation at a site.
By choosing the single node option, prices for any node point can be analyzed over the last 4 years. By looking at the hourly prices of a node point, specific important metrics can be analyzed about how the price fluctuates at different times of the year.
By choosing the two node option, prices can be compared between two nodes over the last any timeframe for the previous 4 years. This comparison can help study two independent sites. Additionally, when studying the effective transmission costs from a generation site to a demand site, the difference in prices between nodes will be the effective transmission costs between the nodes. Areas where transmission costs are highest would be beneficial sites for adding new transmission lines.
Matthew T. Lawder
matt@stlannex.com