On probability distributions of wind speed data in Malaysia

Abstract

The rapid depletion of fossil fuel resources leads to environmental issues and impacts, making alternative resources such as wind energy to be one of the important renewable sources. The statistical characteristics of wind speed and the selection of suitable wind turbines are essential to evaluate wind energy potential and design wind farms effectively. Hence, an accurate assessment of wind energy and wind data analysis is crucial before a detailed analysis of energy potential is conducted. The probability distributions of wind speed data are considered, and its parameters are precisely estimated to achieve this aim. This study considers the most selected distribution, namely, Weibull, Gamma, and Logistic distributions. These distributions are fitted to the wind speed data for sixteen stations in Malaysia. The parameter estimation is performed by the maximum likelihood method. The efficiency of the model distribution is analysed. The goodness of fit test is performed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The results show that Gamma distribution is the most suitable distribution for the wind speed data in Malaysia as it fits the data well for thirteen stations. The Logistic distribution is found to be the best distribution for the other three stations. The graphical method also agrees with the analytical result.