An Overview of Wind Energy Potentials in Palestine

Abstract

This study represents an overview on the possibility of using wind energy to fulfill the increasing demand on energy and the lack of supplied energy in the Palestinian territories, by analyzing and discussing former studies in this field. All previous studies mainly depended on historical data, and data from automated meteorological stations for some of the main cities in Palestine. However, the previous researches depended on data collected between 1991 -2013, and used Weibull distribution function to analysing it. Moreover, all these studies agree about the possibility of exploiting wind energy, especially in high areas in Hebron in West Bank and Gaza city in Gaza Strip, to solve both the crisis of shortage electricity and the increase demand on energy. The highest wind energy is in Hebron, and the average month wind speed is between 3 m/s -7.5 m/s, and the lowest wind energy is in Jericho, and the wind speed there is less than 2.5 m/s in most time. Some studies pointed that wind energy potential can be more efficient by using the hybrid PV / Wind system. At the same time, it can minimize the cost of generated energy from using each system independently. However, there are many obstacles of using wind energy to generate electricity in Palestine.

Hybrid energy system for Dier El Balah quarantine center in Gaza Strip, Palestine

“…The wind pro le for Dier El Balah, Gaza strip was retrieved from references [13,14]. A chart showing the monthly average values of wind speed related to the case study location is given in Fig.…”

Optimal Design of a Standalone Hybrid Energy System for a Covid-19 Quarantine Center Energization

“…Gaza Strip is characterized by a very low wind speed throughout the year, with an annual average of about 2.5-3.5 m/s [40].Therefore, wind energy is suitable if jointly operated with solar cells and diesel generators. Though, studies emphases the importance of wind energy in the future, only few studies related to wind energy potential in Palestine were performed in the past, and these studies mainly depended on historical data and data from automated meteorological stations [41]. In Palestine, there is a wind turbine which is used to power generation in the Al-Ahli Hospital (AAH) in the city of Hebron (Al-Khalil), south of the West Bank where wind speed in the region varies between7 and 10 m/s, with an average value of 6.2 m/s [42].…”

“…Economic and Environmental Feasibility of the Renewable Energy in the Gaza Strip and an overview of renewable energy potential in Palestine are investigated in [39,40,48,49].A Review of Solar Energy Prospects in Palestine was presented by [38]. An Overview of Wind Energy Potentials in Palestine was introduced in [41,42,50,51]. A review of challenges and opportunities of solar and wind energy HES is given by Al Badwawi et al [52].…”

Assessment of Wind Power Potential at Eastern-Jerusalem, Palestine

“…It has become one of the most convenient and environmentally friendly ways to generate electricity [4]. According to the global wind energy council, the total world capacity from wind power system was over 651 GW in 2019, which means that 60.4 GW of wind energy capacity was installed globally in 2019 [2]. Most of the commercial wind turbines operate today at sites with an average wind speed of around 5 m/s [5].…”

“…The Israeli restrictions on the ground have made the Palestinian energy market with limited options for developing indigenous sources of electricity. The Israeli control over Area C, which constitutes 60% of the West Bank and is characterized by open lands, has prevented the construction of electricity networks in addition to the establishment of renewable energy projects in these areas[2] [22][23]. Due to the lack of natural energy resources and in order to reduce dependency on energy sources, Palestinians are strongly required to search for renewable and sustainable energy sources such as wind energy.…”