Measurements of the wind energy at the sites of planned location of wind turbines (WTs) require significant expenditures for installation and maintenance of a measuring complex with sensors positioned at the height of WT location. To reduce these expenditures, physical measurements of wind parameters using the sensors placed at lower heights could be complemented by modelling the wind shear up to the height of WT location. Investigations of the wind shear up to the height of 200 (m) on the Latvian shore of the Baltic Sea have been carried out in the time from 01.02.2014 to 01.01.2015 using a Pentalum SpiDAR laser measuring complex. The wind shear modelling is performed based on the power law approximation. Calculations of the operational efficiency of a 2300 (kW) WT (type E82) have been performed for heights of 100, 140 and 180 (m) based on the analysis of average wind speeds and standard deviations measured for three levels: 30, 40, 50 (m), and using five modelling approaches: Rayleigh's model, three Weibull models with k, c coefficients, and the cubic wind speed model. The results of WT operational efficiency calculations using the mentioned models are compared with the data obtained by analysing the wind shear values. It is shown that the modelling curve deviations from the experimental results for the heights of 100, 140 and 180 (m) are affected by the shape (k) and scale (c) coefficients of Weibull function. The results are presented in the form of tables and curves. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.