Potential Study for Hofa Farm Development

Abstract

This paper presents a technical assessment of the wind power potential for Hofa area using statistical analysis of measured wind data and power generation data from the current wind farm, and using the characteristics and financial and technical analysis of modern wind turbines characteristics to determine the best alternative for the site development project. Rayleigh distribution is used to model the monthly average data and to simulate the wind power from the turbines. To validate the model we ran the simulation for the current turbines and the results were compared to the actual power data collected from the farm.

Energy calculations, capacity factors and cost of wind energy production were determined for the location with wind machines of different sizes ranging between 1 MW to 3.6 MW. The quantitative estimates of the technical and economic potential are presented graphically. Rayleigh parameter is adjusted to the hub height to estimate the power output of the machine. The energy cost analyses show that all selected sites have high economic potential with unit cost less than $0.035/kWh of electricity. Finally, the results of this study reveal that Hofa site has high potential wind energy and its environmental and energy policy targets can be met by exploitation of wind energy.

Keywords: Hofa Wind Farm, Wind Turbine, Economical Cost, Wind Farm Development,Probability distribution, Power and Energy Curves.