Wind energy resource assessment for Suva, Fiji, with accurate Weibull parameters

Kutty, Saiyad S. and Khan, Mohammad G.M. and Ahmed, Mohammed R. (2019) Wind energy resource assessment for Suva, Fiji, with accurate Weibull parameters. Energy Exploration and Exploitation, 37 (3). pp. 1009-1038. ISSN 0144-5987

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Abstract

Wind resource assessment is carried out for Suva, the capital of the Republic of Fiji Islands. The wind speeds at 34 m and 20 m above ground level (AGL), wind direction, atmospheric pressure and temperature were measured for more than five years and statistically analyzed. The daily, monthly, yearly and seasonal averages were estimated. For the site, the overall average wind speed at 34 m AGL is found to be 5.18 m/s. The occurrence of effective wind (between the cut-in and cut-off wind speeds of the selected turbine) is predominantly from the east. An effective wind speed of 74.175% was recorded which can be used for power generation. The turbulence intensity (TI) and wind shear coefficient are estimated. The site’s overall TIs are 12.5% and 13.72% at 34 m and 20 m AGL respectively. The diurnal wind shear correlated with the temperature variation very well. The overall and seasonal wind distributions are analyzed which shows that the wind speed in Suva is mostly between 3-9 m/s although the winter season has higher wind speeds. The Weibull parameters and the wind power density were found using ten different methods. The wind power density is estimated to be 159 W/m2 using the best method, which is found to be the empirical method of Justus. A high resolution map around the site is digitized and the wind power density resource map is generated using WAsP. From the WAsP analysis, it is seen that Suva has high potential for power generation. Five possible locations are selected for installing wind turbines and the annual energy production is estimated using WAsP. The total annual energy production from the five sites is 1950 MWh. The average capacity factor of the five turbines is 17%. An economic analysis is performed which showed a payback period of 10.83 years.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Wind energy,Weibull distribution, wind shear coefficient, turbulence intensity, economic analysis, wind atlas analysis and application program
Subjects:	Q Science > QA Mathematics T Technology > T Technology (General)
Divisions:	Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment (FSTE) > School of Computing, Information and Mathematical Sciences Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment (FSTE) > School of Engineering and Physics
Depositing User:	M. Rafiuddin Ahmed
Date Deposited:	29 Apr 2019 22:14
Last Modified:	29 Apr 2019 22:14
URI:	https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/11523

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