Abstract:By means of the conventional weather observation data from 5 stations from 1971 to 2004 and the data from ground automatic weather stations from 2005 to 2006 in the eastern Hexi corridor, the evolution and distribution of nearsurface wind speed and wind energy are analyzed by the statistical method. The results show that the change of the environmental wind speed was quite stable, but the wind speed decreased obviously where the environmental variation was bigger. The regional distribution characteristics of wind energy are that the wind energy was the biggest in the mountainous areas, the second along the Hexi corridor in the desert belt, and the smallest in the Wuwei oasis basin. The annual mean wind speed is greater than 3.5 m/s, and the mean wind speeds of all months are greater than 3.0 m/s. The jumping of both wind direction and wind speed is unobvious in whole year. The daily mean number of effective wind energy hours is greater than 13.9, and the annual mean number of effective wind energy hours is greater than 5000 hours in the southern mountainous area, where there is great potential for the development of wind resources. The annual mean wind speed is only 2.7 m/s, bigger from march to July, with the daily mean number of effective wind energy hours being 8.7 hours, the annual mean number of effective wind energy hours being 2913 hours, and the annual mean effective wind energy density being 82.7 W/m2 over the northern desert areas, where the wind energy can be utilized seasonally. The various wind energy parameters are smaller in the Liangzhou oasis basin, where wind power generation, therefore, is not suitable. The utilization prospects of wind energy are analyzed according to the regional climate characteristics of wind power generation.
