Is the apparent global stilling effect on wind power generation an artefact of sampling rate? Evidence from high-frequency observations in the UK

High-resolution wind data is critical when assessing the phenomenon known as global stilling. Global stilling is the observed reduction in wind speeds due to climate change. Understanding the phenomenon is crucial due to the potential impact on wind power. Using the wind speed and wind power generation data from the Lancaster University Meteorological Station and wind turbine, analysis of the trends and the rate of change for wind speed under different sampling regimes provided an insight into the change in wind speed patterns. More importantly, daily estimated wind power generation was compared to 10-minute turbine power generation data to assess the importance of high-resolution data in wind power analysis. The opposing patterns of the 10-minute and daily data highlight the importance of high-resolution wind speed data for global stilling research and policymaking. The large spatiotemporal variability of wind speeds combined with the non-linearity of wind power generation necessitates high-resolution data. • Comparison of high- and low-resolution wind power generation potential data. • Power generation nonlinearity forces hi-res data need to assess long term trends • Quantification of global stilling effect using wind speed data for Lancaster, UK. • Power curves fitted to the wind speed data using a standard spline approximation.