Wind Resource Assessment: A case study on Dangla Wind Farm
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Date
2020-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Energy is one of the most crucial inputs for socio-economic development. A rapid growth
in energy demand and air pollution has increased the available options of energyproducing
methods in
the
electric
industry.
Currently, the wind energy potential of Ethiopia was estimated to be 10,000 MW. However,
from these only eight percent of its capacity has been used in the last years. One of the
reasons for the low usage of wind energy is the unavailability of correct wind atlas in the
country. Therefore, it is necessary to develop correct wind atlas for the entire country so
that better sites used for installing wind power plants can be easily identified. Besides, wind
energy projects could be planned and implemented in a short time. Hence, in this work, a
wind resource assessment is going to be carried out using WAsP at Dangla which plays an
important role in identifying potential areas for wind energy applications in the given site.
In this study, three years of wind data which were recorded at a height of 10-meter a.g.l.
in 15 minutes interval were used for the analysis. The results showed that the minimum
wind speed was 0.12083 m/s whereas the maximum wind speed was 9.96389 m/s. The mean
wind speed and power density at a height of 10 m a.g.l. were 1.8 m/s and 9 w/m
2
respectively. The most frequent wind direction was also found to be 210°.
The wind resource assessment was carried out using the Wind Atlas Analysis and
Application Program and the results showed that the maximum wind speed was available
around hills. Also, the net annual energy production of the site at a turbine height of 80 m
a.g.l. was found to be 282.726 GWh (or, 32.27 MW). The capacity factor of the farm was
also found to be 9.54% which in turn indicated that the site is classified as lower potential.
The result of the economic analysis showed that the Vestas V100-1.8 MW Grid streamer
wind turbine yields the highest cost of 396,547 birr/kW at the site. The economic analysis
of the site was analyzed using the current price of electricity in Ethiopia. The result
obtained showed that the Levelized cost of electricity was found to be 4.9 birr/kWh. Based
on the results obtained, it is possible to conclude that the project is not financialy feasible
at the current price of electricity in Ethiopia.
Description
Keywords
Dangla Wind Farm, Wind Resource, Assessment