Skip Navigation to main content U.S. Department of Energy U.S. Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Bringing you a prosperous future where energy is clean, abundant, reliable, and affordable EERE Home
Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program
 
About the ProgramProgram AreasInformation ResourcesFinancial OpportunitiesTechnologiesDeploymentHome
Federal Wind Siting Information Center Home Page
Federal Involvement in Wind Siting Activities Participants
Wind Resource Maps and Assessments
Wind Siting Policies and Regulations
Wind Siting Studies Radar Frequently Asked Questions About Wind and Radar Environment and Wildlife Environmental Impact Statements
Wind Siting Tools
Related Links
Contacts

Wind Resource Maps and Assessments

Below are links to wind resource basements and wind resource maps. Some of the following documents are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs. Download Adobe Reader.

Federal Agency Wind Resource Assessments

A growing number of federal agencies and departments are conducting comprehensive assessments identifying and evaluating the potential for increased renewable energy development utilizing domestic resources including wind, solar, and geothermal. These resource assessment reports aid federal and military decision makers in prioritizing activities that will increase the federal government's use of renewable energy technologies.

  • Assessing the Potential for Renewable Energy on National Forest System Lands (PDF 5.0 MB)

    This U.S. Forest Service technical report evaluates the potential for renewable energy resource development on National Forest System (NFS) lands. The U.S. Forest Service can use the report findings to consider potential for development of solar and wind energy resources on NFS lands, in land management decisions.

  • Assessing the Potential for Renewable Energy on Public Lands ( PDF 4.2 MB)

    This Department of Interior Bureau of Land Management report is intended to assist federal land managers with making decisions on prioritizing land-use activities that will increase development of renewable energy resources on public lands in the West (except Alaska). The report studied resources on Bureau of Land Management, Tribal, and Forest Service lands.

  • Department of Defense Renewable Energy Assessment 

    This Department of Defense assessment provides a comprehensive evaluation of wind, solar, and geothermal energy use at U.S. military installations, and considers resource availability, electricity purchasing, mission compatibility, energy security, and short- and long-term perspectives. The report concluded that more than 109 facilities have some wind development potential.

Wind Resource Maps

These high-resolution maps of wind energy resources allow for better siting of wind turbines and have led to the recognition of higher-class winds in new regions. In this section you may access many of these wind resource maps.

  • Northwestern Wind Power Maps

    Validated high-resolution maps of state, county, and regional wind energy potential for Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.

  • Renewable Energy Atlas

    An 80-page, full-color presentation of the renewable energy resources in the West, including newly-released high-resolution wind maps of the Pacific Northwest. The Atlas profiles wind, solar, geothermal and biomass power.

  • State Wind Resource Maps

    Provides validated wind resource maps for a growing number of states. Before you plan to install your own wind turbine or wind farm, you must know if the wind resource in your location is adequate. From wind resource maps, you can determine if your area of interest should be further explored.

  • Wind and Biological Resource Maps

    These recently developed maps by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service represent an initial step in towards a large series of maps or overlays indicating the location of known biological resources. The maps are intended to be useful in helping to avoid important biological resource areas when selecting potential sites for wind power projects.

  • Wind Energy Resources on Tribal Lands

    The Department of Energy Tribal Energy Program and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have compiled maps of wind energy resources for most of the tribal lands in the West, as well as select locations in the East.

  • Wind Resource Maps

    The Department of Energy/National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (DOE/NREL's) Geographic Information System (GIS) team offers both a national wind resource assessment of the United States and high-resolution wind data. This national wind resource data provides an estimate of the annual average wind resource for the conterminous United States, with a resolution of 1/3 degree of latitude by 1/4 degree of longitude.