Techno-economic feasibility of two onshore wind farms located in the desert area: a case study

Abstract

ABSTRACT Onshore wind energy technology has the potential to solve major energy and climate change problems through clean generation, as well as drive economic development and job creation. This study aims, through a technical and economic analysis, to reveal the wind potential of two terrestrial sites of the province of Tantan, characterized by an average wind speed higher than 5 m/s. Technical analysis is performed to estimate annual energy production, while the economic viability of these two onshore wind farms is discussed using the Present Value Cost method. The results recorded over a period of 5 years of wind speed data gave power density values of 74.62 W/m2 for Tantan−1 and 149.89 W/m2 for Tantan−2. Accordingly, with a commercial wind turbine named NORDEX N90, the production cost in Tantan−1 and Tantan−2 for 1 kWh is approximately 3.45 US Cent/kWh and 3.87 US Cent/kWh, respectively. To confirm these results, a comparative analysis with the costs of the various national technologies for the production of thermal or solar energy was carried out. The calculations showed very competitive costs for the two sites studied at the national level, knowing that, this region will host one of the world’s largest green energy export and storage projects.