Present state of wind energy utilisation in Hungary: policy, wind climate, and modelling studies

Earlier renewable energy studies suggested that Hungary does not have considerable extractable wind power due to the low mean annual wind speed. Recent technological developments with the remarkable increase of tower height and rotor diameter of wind power stations made it possible to reevaluate wind energy consumption in continental regions such as the Carpathian Basin. This paper presents the policy changes of the Hungarian government concerning the joining of the country to the European Union planned in 2004. In order to support governmental efforts on renewable energy consumption a research project started on mapping potential wind resources of the country. It was essential to measure and analyse the flows in the lower 100–150 m of the boundary layer through vertical profile estimations. Then, serving the optimal siting the WAsP model has been applied to extrapolate the measured data at different regions of Hungary.