Internship Spotlight: Statistical Methods for Wind Farm Optimization
Internship Spotlight: Statistical Methods for Wind Farm Optimization
At the Iceland School of Energy, students have the opportunity to do an internship throughout the spring 2015 semester, in exchange for 8 ECTS towards their master's degree. Michael (Mike) Dohney, MSc Sustainable Energy Science '16, is working on Landsvirkjun's wind power project.
Mike's deliverable includes a levilized cost of electricity (LCOE) model projecting financially optimal turbine selection for a given site in Iceland. This includes using wind profile mapping to perform cost projections. Raw wind velocity data was provided by Landsvirkjun at the start of the project; and Mike develops methods to extrapolate the data to varying hub-heights. Mike mentions that the methods involve “stochastic modelling and projecting, and statistical assumptions based on work done by some of the major players in the wind information industry, such as NREL and IRENA”.
Michael Dohney: “I plan on taking many of the tools I've sharpened throughout this internship process and applying them towards my thesis work in the coming semester”.
Early on in the project, challenges for Mike included “(spending) a fair amount of time both brushing up on old techniques (in regards to statistics), and working towards conceptually understanding and implementing new ones. However, the profitability assessment course I've taken this semester has been really beneficial in many aspects of LCOE modelling at Landsvirkjun”.
The opportunity to intern for Iceland's leading renewable energy companies is something that each student thoroughly enjoys. Mike reflects on his time at Landsvirkjun as a well-run company with a wonderful atmosphere, and “whose operations are imperative to the Icelandic economy”. He further explains how the experience will aid in his future studies, by stating, “I plan on taking many of the tools I've sharpened throughout this internship process and applying them towards my thesis work in the coming semester”. Overall, Mike is making an influential impact on the wind industry here in Iceland regarding further statistical and analytical developments, and plans to use this experience in his future studies here at the Iceland School of Energy.
To learn more about wind power developments at Landsvirkjun, check out our feature on the Iceland School of Energy page viaFacebook and Twitter.