Competition Potential of Wind Power Plants

Abstract In Turkey, wind energy has great potential. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Turkey theoretically has 160 terrawatt hours a year of wind potential. Substantial potential of wind energy in Turkey is important with respect to the economic, financing, and environmental benefits. Therefore, the evaluation of the substitution potential of wind energy is becoming an important task by generation planning of power systems. Wind energy is among the fastest developing energy sources in Turkey. The Marmara, southeast Anatolian and Aegean regions are highly suitable for wind power generation since wind speeds exceed 3 m/s in most of these areas. Old windmills found in the Marmara and Aegean regions are good indicators of the wind energy potential for these regions. While the average density of wind power is below the 40 W/m2 in 89.3% of Turkey's total domain, it is over 40 W/m2 in 10.7% and it exceeds 100 W/m2 in 0.8%. There are also some regions of Turkey where average density of wind power reaches 294.1 W/m2 level.