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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Hannah BloomfieldORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
This Perspective article provides a brief overview of the topic of wind and solar energy droughts (henceforth WSDs). It does not attempt to provide a complete literature review of the subject but rather highlights some of the main concepts associated with WSDs. These include wind and solar energy drought definitions and metrics; meteorological conditions producing WSDs; a comparison of their characteristics with hydrologic droughts and hydropower droughts; model-based and observational datasets useful for WSD analyses; the linkage of WSDs to transmission, storage, and demand response; the potential impacts of WSDs vs energy demand variations; wind and solar flood events; WSD predictability; WSD dependency on climate modes of variability; climate change impacts on WSDs; and the special challenge of evaluating the characteristics of WSDs in developing countries that have limited historical data available. Finally, the manuscript identifies research areas that the authors believe would provide immediate benefit to energy system planners.
Author(s): Wilczak JM, Kirk-Davidoff DB, Bloomfield HC, Bracken C, Sharp J
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Year: 2025
Volume: 17
Issue: 2
Print publication date: 28/04/2025
Acceptance date: 04/04/2025
Date deposited: 29/04/2025
ISSN (electronic): 1941-7012
Publisher: AIP Publishing
URL: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0253058
DOI: 10.1063/5.0253058
Data Access Statement: The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in U.S. Geological Survey at https://eerscmap.usgs.gov/uswtdb/ (Ref. 67) and https://eerscmap.usgs.gov/uspvdb/ (Ref. 68).
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