After a month that has been short on good news for Australia's wind energy sector, a new study into wind speeds across Australia could provide some welcome relief – and generate some all important private sector investor interest.

The study by scientists at CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research set out to improve estimates of long-term wind speed changes for Australia's growing wind energy sector – and to identify the risks for generators in a changing climate – by analysing wind speed observations to understand the causes of variations in near-surface wind and explore long-term wind speed trends nationally.

And the results, published today in the Journal of Climate, have found that average wind speeds have increased across Australia – a finding that contradicts recent international studies that showed a decrease in wind speeds in several parts of the globe, including across Australia.

The CSIRO study, led by Alberto Troccoli, has found that wind speeds measured at a height of 10m have increased each year by 0.69 per cent, from 1989-2006, while wind speeds measured at 2m had declined at a rate of 0.36 per cent.

The 10m measurements were taken at Bureau of Meteorology stations across Australia, while the 2m data was recorded at various research stations. The 10m height data is more representative of growing trends, said Troccoli, because it is above most obstacles.

“Wind observations, like other meteorological variables, are sensitive to the conditions in which they are observed – for example, where the instrumentation sits relative to topographical features, vegetation and urban developments,” he said.

But beyond the news that wind speeds increasing, Troccoli told Climate Spectator in an interview on Tuesday that the results of the study could have positive implications for the wind power sector, offering a means to provide potential investors with more reliable, longer-term research.

“Wind power production is expected to increase greatly over the coming years and the associated electricity system will be subject to variations of several hundred MW, depending on wind availability,” said Dr Troccoli.

Many developers project only one- and two-year trends when assessing future returns of wind power projects, says Troccoli, despite the fact that wind farms have a general lifespan of 20 years. But the study by Troccoli and his team means access to more reliable research, and the ability to produce data with long-term trends – a result that could benfit investors and companies alike.

“We have a good picture of wind energy availability across Australia from previous CSIRO wind mapping and, with the growth of wind farms, there is an emerging need to understand how climate change can affect the wind resource,” Troccoli said.

“The ability to quantify with accuracy... long-term variations is essential to the sector from an economic point of view,” he said.

“The potential for increasing the efficiency of energy operations by using quality weather and climate information is therefore apparent and one of the first steps is the standardisation of wind recording stations."