The purpose of this data-file is to examine the correlations between different wind farms’ generation rates. Specifically, we obtained and cleaned-up half-hour-by-half-hour power generation data from c20 wind assets around the UK, in Megawatts (MW).
The output from individual wind farms was 67% correlated on average, at any given point in time. This correlation varies with distance, reaching as high as 90% within a 100km x 100km area, and dropping to 50-60% within a 750km x 750km area.
Auto-correlation was also high, as each wind farm’s generation was 80% correlated with its own generation 5-hours earlier or later; and the correlation still held at c25% c24-hours later. Windy and non-windy periods routinely last several 2-10 days.
What implications? This all makes it challenging to back up a wind-powered grid with batteries, but it is advantageous for demand-shifting. Inter-correlations between different solar assets is tabulated here.