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AUTHOR(S): Gaydaa Al Zohbi, Fatimah Al Wuhayb, Samar Dernayka
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TITLE Evaluation of Wind Power Energy Potential in Four Sites in Saudi Arabia |
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ABSTRACT The energy potential of wind in four sites located in different parts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is investigated in the present work. A statistical analysis of recently collected hourly wind data over a period of 7 years between January 2012 and December 2018 at 10 m height by using Weibull distribution function has been presented. It was found that the annual mean wind speed at 10 m AGL for Dhahran, Jeddah, Al-Hofuf and Rafah are 4.35 m/s, 4.12 m/s, 4.23 m/s and 3.86 m/s respectively, while the annual wind power density are 66.77 W/m2, 43.58 W/m2, 72.75 W/m2 and 53.27 W/m2, respectively. The mean annual values of the most probable wind are 5.41 m/s, 5.63 m/s, 5.83 m/s and 5.36 m/s for Dhahran, Jeddah, Al-Hofuf and Rafha, respectively. The results revealed that at 10 m height, the four studied sites fall under Class 1 (poor) since the highest reached values of the mean annual wind speed and the mean annual power density were 4.35 m/s and 68 W/m² respectively, registered in Dhahran city. The performance of selected commercial wind turbine models (with rated power between 500 kW and 200 kW)) for electricity generation and small scale application has been carried out. |
KEYWORDS Weibull distribution, wind speed, power density, standard deviation method, wind turbine |
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Cite this paper Gaydaa Al Zohbi, Fatimah Al Wuhayb, Samar Dernayka. (2020) Evaluation of Wind Power Energy Potential in Four Sites in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Renewable Energy Sources, 5, 30-46 |
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