Mountain wave and downslope winds impact on wind power production

Solbakken, Kine; Samuelsen, Eirik Mikal; Birkelund, Yngve

doi:10.5194/wes-11-155-2026

Articles | Volume 11, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-11-155-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-11-155-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 11, issue 1

Research article

|

15 Jan 2026

Research article |

| 15 Jan 2026

Mountain wave and downslope winds impact on wind power production

Kine Solbakken, Eirik Mikal Samuelsen, and Yngve Birkelund

Data sets

Complete ERA5 from 1940: Fifth generation of ECMWF atmospheric reanalyses of the global climate Hans Hersbach et al. https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.143582cf

ERA5 hourly data on pressure levels from 1940 to present Hans Hersbach et al. https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.bd0915c6

ERA5 hourly data on single levels from 1940 to present Hans Hersbach et al. https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.adbb2d47

Model code and software

WRF input files for "Mountain waves and downslope winds impact on wind power production" Kine Solbakken et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15845751

Short summary

Mountain waves can form when air passes over a large barrier and can cause strong winds on the lee side. Understanding how these strong downslope winds impact wind power production can help improve wind park efficiency. We studied two wind parks in Norway and found that the turbines on the leeward side of the mountain produce more power than the turbines on the mountain top. This study also investigates how weather models can help predict when and where strong downslope winds may occur.