Investigation of use small wind turbines under local wind conditions in Rabka-Zdrój

AGH University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, Al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Kraków, Poland

^* Corresponding author: aszulc@agh.edu.pl

Abstract

The paper presents an analysis of wind conditions for the health resort of Rabka-Zdrój. Rabka-Zdrój is a town located in southern Poland in the Rabczańska Valley surrounded by numerous hills. Archival meteorological data were obtained from the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management – National Research Institute, which until 2012 had a retention station in Rabka-Zdrój. A detailed analysis of the basic wind parameters has shown that prevailing wind speeds are in the range of 0.6-1.8 m/s. In addition, the dominant wind direction is west and southwest. For these directions, the average wind speeds in the analysed period are the highest, with the maximum recorded speed of 2.8 m/s for the south-west direction. What is more, in the health resort area, one can observe the frequent occurrence of atmospheric silence, from 16% to 45% in the analysed years. The total energy that can be obtained using a small wind turbine is low, therefore the possibility of using hybrid renewable energy sources should be considered.