Assessment of wind energy potential for Tuvalu with accurate estimation of Weibull parameters

Talama, Fatonga and Kutty, Saiyad S. and Kumar, Ajal and Khan, Mohammad G.M. and Ahmed, Mohammed R. (2020) Assessment of wind energy potential for Tuvalu with accurate estimation of Weibull parameters. Energy Exploration and Exploitation, 38 (5). pp. 1742-1773. ISSN 0144-5987

PDF (Final Published paper) - Published Version Restricted to Registered users only Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (2MB) | Request a copy

Abstract

Wind resource assessments are carried out for two sites in Tuvalu: Funafuti and Nukufetau. The wind speeds at 34 m and 20 m above ground level (AGL) were recorded for approximately 12 months and analyzed. The averages of each site are computed as the overall, daily, monthly, annual and seasonal averages. The overall average wind speeds for Funafuti and Nukufetau at 34 m AGL were estimated to be 6.19 m/s and 5.36 m/s respectively. The turbulence intensities (TI) at the two sites were also analyzed. The TI is also computed for windy and low-wind days. Wind shear analysis was carried out and correlated with temperature variation. Ten different methods: median and quartiles method (MQ), the empirical method of Lysen (EML), the empirical method of Justus (EMJ), the moments method (MO), the least squares method (LS), the maximum likelihood method (ML), the modified maximum likelihood method (MML), the energy pattern factor method (EPF), method of multi-objective moments (MM) and the WAsP method were used to find the Weibull parameters. From these methods, the best method is used to determine the wind power density (WPD) for the site. The WPD for Funafuti is 228.18 W/m2 and for Nukufetau is 145.1 W/m2. The site maps were digitized and with the WAsP software, five potential locations were selected for each site from the wind resource map. The annual energy production for the sites were computed using WAsP to be 2921.34 MWh and 1848.49 MWh. The payback periods of installing the turbines for each site are calculated by performing an economic analysis, which showed payback periods of between 3.13 and 4.21 years for Funafuti and between 4.83 to 6.72 years for Nukufetau.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Wind energy; Weibull distribution; Wind shear coefficient; Turbulence Intensity; Economic analysis; WAsP.
Subjects:	Q Science > Q Science (General) > Q1-390 Science (General) T Technology > TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
Divisions:	School of Information Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Physics (STEMP)
Depositing User:	M. Rafiuddin Ahmed
Date Deposited:	09 Nov 2020 03:35
Last Modified:	28 Mar 2023 01:04
URI:	https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/12388

Actions (login required)

View Item