Abstract:
Currently, wind is one of the inexhaustible energies that are most viable; seeking for alternative energy sources has as motivation to reduce the pollution generated by power sources that use non-renewable resources. This need has led to detailed studies of characterization of wind at different scales; this research analyzes the contribution of the breeze on the wind power potential in the coastal zone of Tamaulipas. Data from the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) were used and validated with in situ observations recorded by four meteorological stations in the coastal area of Tamaulipas and a marine buoy located in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. In this validation the correlations between the observations and the reanalysis were generally above 0.80. For the period from January 2000 to December 2010, wind and temperature data were filtered to separate the low frequencies and the diurnal signal. A steady and significant contribution of the breeze was determined during the warm months of the year (March, April, May, and June), this is up to 34% of the total wind intensity (wind of low frequency plus diurnal wind). During these warm months, the breeze reaches intensities above 2.2 , which is enough to operate domestic wind turbines, unlike those months with a lower temperature (October, November, December and January), when the breeze is not intense enough to generate power electricity. The most intense breeze occurs in southern Tamaulipas. If only the wind potential of breeze were exploited to generate electricity, over 700 kW h would be produced annually.
