Capacity value of wind power, calculation, and data requirements : the Irish power system case

The capacity value of wind power indicates the extent to which wind power contributes to the generation system adequacy of a power system. The related data requirements may be subject to difficulties due to the temporal variability and spatial distribution of wind power in connection with the limited databases currently available. This paper presents a methodology to identify the minimal amount of data required for reliable studies. Based on wind power data of 74 stations in Ireland, covering up to ten years, the effects of different numbers of stations and different time periods of data on the capacity value are analyzed. The calculations are performed by means of a fast calculation code. The results show that at least four to five years of data in an hourly resolution are necessary for reliable studies and that 40 to 50 evenly distributed stations give an acceptable representation of the total wind power generation in Ireland.