Investigating wind resource, turbulence intensity and gust factor on mountain locations in Southern Italy

Wind energy potential and turbulence characteristics on four mountain locations in Southern Italy have been analysed based on a 2-year wind dataset composed of 10-min averaged records collected at 30 m. These sites have been identified as eligible areas to be exploited, being representative of the typical mid-altitude Apennine rural ridges running the length of the country, as well as quite easily accessed and free from any environmental constraint. Wind resource has been assessed through wind roses, wind speed frequency distributions, and Weibull probability density function. Turbulence intensity and gust factor variation by month, hour of day, and wind direction has been also assessed. In addition, the Counihan and Wieringa models to calculate turbulence intensity and gust factor, respectively, have been implemented and compared to observations.