Estimation of wind energy potential and Weibull parameter extrapolation of the city of Annaba, Algeria

Abstract

This work examines the assessment of wind energy capacity in the region of Annaba situated in Northeast of Algeria. The variation of the wind speed in terms of the altitude is required to evaluate the wind resources and predict the energy production of a given wind farm. Generally, the wind speed data, measured at a reference height, are extrapolated to the desired hub height using several empirical laws. In this paper, the power law method, suggested by Justus and Mikhail, is employed to extrapolate the Weibull parameters, using wind time series data obtained from the meteorological stations. Thus, the vertical extrapolated velocity is, then, used to evaluate the power and energy densities at heights of 30m and 60m. The obtained simulation results show that the considered site may be appropriate for small off-grid applications, but not for large wind turbines.