Assessment of Wind Power Potential and Economic Analysis at Hyderabad in Pakistan: Powering to Local Communities Using Wind Power

Abstract

Wind power is the fastest growing and environmentally sustainable source of energy among all available renewable energy resources. The primary objective of this paper is to analyze the wind characteristics and power potential at Hyderabad, Southeastern province in Pakistan. Two years of wind speed data measured at 10 m above ground level (AGL) have been considered in this study. The annually, monthly, and seasonal variations in wind speed were analyzed, and minimum, maximum, and average values of recorded wind speeds are presented in this paper. Weibull and Rayleigh distribution functions have been applied to analyze the wind characteristics and evaluate the wind power potential of the proposed site. The Weibull shape k and scale c parameters have been estimated using the Weibull function. The higher values of k showed that the wind speed is steady at the site. The average wind speed was found above 6 m/s throughout the year. The most probable wind speed (Vmp) and maximum carrying energy (VmaxE) wind speed were also calculated using Weibull parameters. Root mean square error (RMSE), the coefficient of determination (R2), and mean bias error (MBE) were computed to ensure the good fit of Weibull distribution function. The annual average wind power and energy densities were estimated at more than 255 W/m2 and 2245 kWh/m2, respectively. The power density calculated by Weibull and Rayleigh functions was compared with that calculated by using measured wind data. The energy output and capacity factor of different commercially available wind turbines (WTs), i.e., power ratings from 0.33 to 2.75 MW, have been calculated. The cost of energy was estimated and ranged from $19.27 to $32.80 per MWh. Wind power potential and economic analysis of the collected data reveals that the site is suitable for developing wind power generation projects to power the local communities.

Evaluation of Wind Energy Potential Using an Optimum Approach based on Maximum Distance Metric

“…Further relevant numerical descriptors for wind data are the speed average v avg , speed variance σ 2 , speed standard deviation σ, maximum energy-carrying wind speed (V maxE ), and the most probable wind speed (V mp ) are defined in [16,19,41,42].…”

“…Many statistical methods have been used to compute the errors and then be analyzed to find the better fit technique for these calculations. The performance test analysis methods are considered in this study are root mean square error (RMSE), the coefficient of determination (R 2 ), and mean bias error (MBE) and expressed as [16,28,42]…”

“…The technical specifications of selected WTs are illustrated in Table 4. The energy produced is calculated using the WTs power curves data and the number of hours when the possibility of wind speed stayed in different bins at the turbine hub height; energy production, CF, and cost analysis are defined in [19,42,51]. The wind speed for different hub heights of the WTs is calculated using the power-law extrapolation model.…”

“…The estimated cost of energy per unit for WTs is given in Table 5. The cost of energy per unit is calculated by taking the assumptions (for instance, initial investment cost, operation and maintenance cost, real interest rate, life span, and cost of wind turbines) from the literature [19,42,[51][52][53]. The lowest cost of energy (COE) per unit is 21.31 US Dollar $/MWh for Windtec DF 2000 followed by Gamesa G114-2.5 and GE 1.7-100 with COE/unit 21.63 $/MWh and 22.72 $/MWh, respectively, while the highest COE is 54.47 $/MWh for Nordex N60/1300 followed by Enercon E-48/800 and Enercon E-33/330 with COE/unit 47.75 $/MWh and 43.32 $/MWh, respectively.…”

Technical and Economic Assessment of VSC-HVDC Transmission Model: A Case Study of South-Western Region in Pakistan

“…Currently, Pakistan has been taking initiatives to utilize renewable energy to bridge the gap between demand and supply effectively. However, the weak, old transmission system is still a significant hindrance to uphold the rapidity with growing energy production supply [2,3].…”