Wind Atlas NRW 2025

The Wind Atlas 2025 of the State Office for Nature, Environment and Climate NRW provides the public with data on the wind situation in North Rhine-Westphalia. Various parameters have been calculated and validated as part of a nationwide wind modelling. The data are available in 30 m x 30 m raster format and are partly additionally prepared as a vector data set. The Wind Atlas 2025 includes: 1) Average wind velocity in m/s for seven different heights from 75 m to 225 m The average wind velocity refers to the average velocity of the air compared to the ground in the long-term average. Here, only the horizontal component relevant for wind energy production is considered. 2) Average wind power density in W/sqm for seven different heights from 75 m to 225 m The wind speed only partially reflects the production behavior of a wind turbine. In addition to the average wind supply, the air density, the frequency distribution of the wind speed and the regulation of the power of wind turbines at nominal wind speed play a role. These aspects are taken into account by the mean capped wind power density. 3) & 4) Site quality and annual yield for three typical wind turbines at heights of 150 m, 175 m, 200 m For three wind turbine types of different sizes common in North Rhine-Westphalia, average annual yields and site quality were calculated according to the EEG: • Enercon E-115 EP3 E3 at 150 m above ground • Nordex N 149 5.X at 175 m above ground • Vestas V-172 at 200 m above ground 5) A and k Parameters for seven different heights from 75 m to 225 m (grid only) The wind speed in Central Europe and in comparable wind climates follows a Weibull distribution described by two parameters: the A parameter (scaling parameter) and the k parameter (shape parameter). These are crucial for the assessment of wind potential and yield forecasts for wind turbines. 6) Ambient turbulence for seven different heights from 75 m to 225 m (grid only) The mean meteorological turbulence intensity was determined for the wind atlas NRW. When using wind energy, turbulence refers to short-term fluctuations in wind speed by one mean – typically a 10-minute mean. They are triggered by disturbances of the terrain on the wind flow, e.g. by forest areas, moving terrain or urban development. 7) Uncertainty in relation to the mean wind speed (grid only) Based on the knowledge gained in a large number of projects about the quality of the results of the model system used, but mainly due to the validation results, the modelling of the wind atlas also mapped the uncertainties associated with the results.