Temporal assessment of wind energy resource at four locations in Algerian Sahara

Abstract

This paper presents a statistical analysis of wind characteristics of four locations situated in Algerian Sahara, namely Bordj Badji Mokhtar, Djanet, Illizi and Tamanrasset, using Weibull distribution function on wind speed data at 10m height collected in the last decade by the Algerian Meteorological Office. The monthly, seasonal and annual variations were examined by statistical analyses, while wind speeds at 50m were assessed by extrapolating the 2-parameter Weibull using the power law. It is shown that Bordj Badji Mokhtar has the highest wind potential with the annual mean wind speed Vm=5m/s.The average monthly mean wind speed variation ranged from 2.54m/s at Tamanrasset to 4.94m/s at Bordj Badji Mokhtar, while the minimum seasonal mean wind speed is recorded at Djanet with 2.65m/s and the maximum is found to be 5.79m/s at Bordj Badji Mokhtar. Annual wind power density ranged from 48W/m2 at Tamanrasset to 204W/m2 at Bordj Badji Mokhtar is recorded. Weibull parameters k and A together were estimated and compared with the variation of air temperature for the respective locations. Results indicate that wind speed is most important and most uniform in hottest periods. Additionally, the analysis of energy efficiency for wind turbine of 600kW rated capacity was made for calculating electricity generation and capacity factor for all periods.