Faraz Muhammad Iftikhar
Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, 31982, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Heliyon. 2024 Oct 10;10(20):e39188. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e39188. eCollection 2024 Oct 30.
Wind power is considered one of the most environmentally friendly and rapidly growing form of renewable energy. This study aims at assessment of wind power potential for Al-Jouf region in Saudi Arabia. A long term historical wind speed data of 21 years (2000-2021) was analytically modeled using Weibull distribution function to determine the wind characteristics. The Weibull parameters and average wind speed for monthly and yearly were evaluated using MATLAB program. An online wind power calculator developed by Meteotest was used to evaluate the wind energy by selecting various turbines. Six types of commercial wind turbines of 3 MW capacity were selected for wind power assessment to optimize the turbine selection. Our analysis showed that average wind speed varies between 3.88 m/s and 4.99 m/s and an overall average wind speed is 4.38 m/s. The most frequent wind speed observed was 3.9 m/s with a probability of 20 % approximately. The Weibull distribution parameters, shape parameter "k" values ranged between 1.89 and 2.21 with an average of 1.98 and scale factor "c" values varied between 4.41 and 5.66 m/s with a mean value of 4.86 m/s. Performance evaluations of selected wind turbine models reveal that the Vestas V126 turbine outperforms others at the Al-Jouf site, generating an annual energy yield of 3779400 kWh at a capacity factor of 14.4 %. These results suggest that by constructing a wind farm consisting of 100 V126 turbines may compensate for the energy needs of 46000 individuals. These findings establish Al-Jouf as a viable location for utility-scale wind power projects, offering valuable insights for turbine manufacturers, developers, operators, and policymakers interested in deploying large-capacity turbines in the region. The method used in this study for wind power analysis and turbine selection is simple and helpful to provide an initial assessment about the site suitability and turbine selection without undergoing exhaustive efforts.
风力发电被认为是最环保且发展迅速的可再生能源形式之一。本研究旨在评估沙特阿拉伯朱夫地区的风力发电潜力。利用威布尔分布函数对21年（2000 - 2021年）的长期历史风速数据进行分析建模，以确定风的特性。使用MATLAB程序评估每月和每年的威布尔参数及平均风速。通过选择各种涡轮机，利用Meteotest开发的在线风力发电计算器来评估风能。选择了六种容量为3兆瓦的商用风力涡轮机进行风力发电评估，以优化涡轮机的选择。我们的分析表明，平均风速在3.88米/秒至4.99米/秒之间变化，总体平均风速为4.38米/秒。观测到的最频繁风速为3.9米/秒，概率约为20%。威布尔分布参数中，形状参数“k”值在1.89至2.21之间，平均值为1.98，尺度因子“c”值在4.41至5.66米/秒之间变化，平均值为4.86米/秒。所选风力涡轮机模型的性能评估表明，维斯塔斯V126涡轮机在朱夫地区的表现优于其他涡轮机，容量系数为14.4%时，年发电量为3779400千瓦时。这些结果表明，建造一个由100台V126涡轮机组成的风电场可能满足46000人的能源需求。这些发现表明朱夫是公用事业规模风力发电项目的可行选址，为有兴趣在该地区部署大容量涡轮机的涡轮机制造商、开发商、运营商和政策制定者提供了有价值的见解。本研究中用于风力发电分析和涡轮机选择的方法简单，有助于在不进行详尽努力的情况下对场地适宜性和涡轮机选择提供初步评估。
