Meteorological conditions during periods of low wind speed and insolation in Germany: The role of weather regimes ...

• Main Authors: Mockert, Fabian, Grams, Christian M., Brown, Tom, Neumann, Fabian
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: John Wiley and Sons 2023
• Subjects: Dunkelflauten; energy demand; predictability; renewable energies; subseasonal prediction; weather regimes; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5445/ir/1000161779; https://publikationen.bibliothek.kit.edu/1000161779

Renewable power generation from wind and solar energy is strongly dependent on the weather. To plan future sustainable energy systems that are robust to weather variability, a better understanding of why and when periods of low wind and solar power output occur is valuable. We call such periods of low wind speed and insolation “Dunkelflauten”, the German word for “dark wind lulls”. In this article, we analyse the meteorological conditions during Dunkelflauten in Germany by applying the concept of weather regimes. Weather regimes are quasi-stationary, recurrent and persistent large-scale circulation patterns that explain multi-day atmospheric variability (5–15 days). We use a regime definition that allows us to distinguish four different types of blocked regimes, characterized by high-pressure situations in the North Atlantic-European region. We find that Dunkelflauten in Germany occur mainly in winter when the solar power output is low due to the seasonal cycle of solar irradiance and wind power output drops ...