Wind energy potential and micro-turbine performance analysis in Djibouti-city, Djibouti

Abstract

Djibouti has an ambitious program to develop and expand its energy demand to satisfy local demand and increase the energy access in rural and urban areas. The renewable energy development is vital in Djibouti’s strategy including 2020’s vision. To increase investment in clean energy by reducing dependence on oil and derivative products, Djibouti want to be the first sub-Saharan African nation using 100% clean energy. This paper examines, for the first time, wind energy potential at Djibouti-city using 5-years (2014–2018) wind speed data collected at 10 m height of wind power using Weibull parameters. Such a study was not feasible before due to the lack of data in this urban area. The results showed the possibility to implement and develop urban wind energy sector in Djibouti-city for domestic applications. The statistical wind speed, the wind rose, and the power density were computed. This study is also part of the implementation project of five micro wind turbines of 1–25 kW in different height areas. The strong wind flows are Eastern and Western over the considered period.The Polaris P12-25 wind turbine provided the best capacity factor (CF = 9.629%) and energy output (AEP = 2.1 × 104 MWh) comparing to the others technologies because the study site having low monthly wind speeds. Finally, according to the analysis of wind power production, Djibouti-city needs to install the wind turbines with high hub height greater than 30.5 m for efficient harvesting.