Wind energy assessment for five locations in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This paper introduces a computer program to choose the most suitable wind turbine for each site according to technical and economical assessments. The criterion for choosing the most suitable wind turbine for each site is according to which wind turbine and site give a maximum capacity factor and minimum cost of energy (/kWh). This criterion is used because the decision of matching which depends only on maximum capacity factor is not enough because capacity factor is independent of rated power of wind turbine. Therefore, two wind turbines with the same performance parameters but different rated power get the same capacity factor for the same site, but it does not get the same cost of energy (/kWh). The data of five locations in Saudi Arabia have been applied to the computer program. The five locations are Yanbou, Dhahran, Douhlom, Riyadh, and Qaisumah. The wind turbine parameters such as hub height, rated power, cut-in, rated, and furling wind speeds for ten commercial wind turbines are collected. The Weibull parameters have been estimated numerically and graphically for these five locations. The values of Weibull parameters obtained graphically are similar to the numerical one. Three methods have been used for estimating the cost of energy. The results from these three methods have been compared, and the suitable one for Saudi Arabia economics has been selected. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.