The negative effects of fossil fuels have forced many countries to explore clean energy sources that are both environmenttally more suitable and renewable. In this study, wind characteristics and assessment of wind energy potential, were analyzed using the wind speed data measured during the period 1995-2001 at 10 m height of Al-Mokha, located in the west of Taiz, in the southwest of Yemen, subjected to 2-parameter Weibull analysis. Based on these data, it was found that the monthly mean wind speed ranged from 3.50 m/s in June to 7.94 m/s in November, the monthly values of Weibull shape parameter (k), ranged from 3.09 to 6.26, while the value of scale parameter (c) ranged from 3.91 to 8.63 m/s and the monthly wind power density ranged from 33.08 to 352.43 W/m 2 . The seasonal mean wind speed data ranged from 3.61 to 7.56 m/s, while the wind power density was ranged from 36.62 to 328.59 W/ m 2 for summer and winter, respectively.
KeywordsAl-MokhaYemenWeibull DistributionWind Energy
D. A Weisser, “A Wind Energy Analysis of Grenada: An Estimation Using the ‘Weibull’ Density Function,” Renewable Energy, Vol. 28, No. 11, 2003, pp. 1803-1812. doi:10.1016/S0960-1481(03)00016-8
M. H. Albuhair, “A Statistical Analysis of Wind Speed Data and an Assessment of Wind Energy Potential in Taiz-Yemen,” Assiut University Bulletin for Environmental Researches, Vol. 9, No. 2, October 2006, pp. 21-33.
E. K. Akpinar and S. Akpinar, “An Assessment on Sea- sonal Analysis of Wind Energy Characteristics and Wind Characteristics,” Energy Conversion and Management, Vol. 46, No. 11-12, 2005, pp. 1848-1867. doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2004.08.012
M. C. Mabel and E. Fernandez, “Growth and Future Trends of Wind Energy in India,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 12, No. 6, 2008, pp. 1745- 1757. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2007.01.016
A. Dimitrovski and K. Tomsovic, “Impact of Wind Generation Uncertainty on Generating Capacity Adequacy,” 9th International Conference on Probabilistic Methods Applied to Power Systems, Stockholm, 11-15 June2006, pp. 1-6.
A. McDonald and L. Schrattenholzer, “Learning Rates for Energy Technologies,” Energy Policy, Vol. 29, No. 4, 2001, pp. 255-261. doi:10.1016/S0301-4215(00)00122-1
W. Turkenburg, “Renewable Energy Technologies,” In: J. Goldemberg, Ed., World Energy Assessment: Energy and the Challenge of Sustainability an Overview, United Nations Development Programme, New York, 2000, pp. 219- 272.
A. Thomas and S. Lennart, “An Overview of Wind Energy Status,” Renew Sustain Energy Review, Vol. 6, No. 1-2, 2002, pp. 67-128. doi:10.1016/S1364-0321(02)00008-4
I. Fyrippis, J. P. Axaopoulos and G. Panayiotou, “Wind Energy Potential Assessment in Naxos Island Greece,” Applied Energy, Vol. 87, No. 2, 2010, pp. 577-586. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2009.05.031
World Wind Energy Report, “Report World Wind Energy Association (WWEA),” WWEA, Bonn, 2011.
The European Wind Energy Association, “Wind in Power 2010 European Statistics,” EWEA, Brussels, 2011.
J. Wen, Y. Zheng and F. Donghan, “A Review on Reliability Assessment for Wind Power,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 13, No. 9, 2009, pp. 2485- 2494. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2009.06.006
A. P. Leite and C. L. T. Borges, “Probability Wind Farms Generation Model for Reliability Studies Applied to Brazilian Sites,” IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Vol. 21, No. 4, 2006, pp. 1493-1501. doi:10.1109/TPWRS.2006.881160
M. H. Albuhairi, “Assessment and Analysis of Wind Power Density in Taiz-Republic of Yemen,” Assiut University Bulletin for Environmental Researches, Vol. 9, No. 2, 2006, pp. 13-21.
Ministry of Water & Environment and Ministry of Electricity, Yemen Energy and Renewable Profile, “Renew- able Energy Potentials and Applications in Yemen,” Middle East & North Africa Renewable Energy Conference, Sana’a, 21-22 April, 2004, pp. 1-10.
A. H. Algifri, “Wind Energy Potential in Aden-Yemen,” Renewable Energy, Vol. 13, No. 2, 1998, pp. 255-260. doi:10.1016/S0960-1481(97)00069-4
M. Ali Al-Ashwal, “All Renewable Energy Applications in Yemen are Best Practice,” ISESCO Science and Technology Vision, Vol. 1, 2005, pp. 45-50.
Maps of World, “Yemen Latitude and Longitude Map,” http://www.mapsofworld.com/lat_long/yemen-lat-long.html
Countries of the World, “Yemen People,” http://www.theodora.com/wfbcurrent/yemen/yemen_people.html
M. H. Albuhairi, “Analysis of Monthly, Seasonal and Annual Air Temperature Variability and Trends in Taiz City-Republic of Yemen,” Journal of Environmental Protection, 2010, Vol. 1, No. 4, 2010, pp. 401-409.
Yemen Ministry of Electricity and Energy & Public Electricity Corporation. http://www.pecye.net/en/index.php?mod=contents&do=items&cid=75
J. A. Carta, P. Ram?rez and S. A. Velazque, “Review of Wind Speed Probability Distributions Used in Wind Energy Analysis. Case Studies in the Canary Islands,” Re- newable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 13, No. 5, 2009, pp. 933-955. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2008.05.005
A. N. Celik, “On the Distributional Parameters Used in Assessment of the Suitability of Wind Speed Probability Density Functions,” Energy Conversion and Management, Vol. 45, No. 11-12, 2004, pp. 1735-1747. doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2003.09.027
P. Ramirez and J. A. Carta, “Influence of the Data Sampling Interval in the Estimation of the Parameters of the Weibull Wind Speed Probability Density Distribution: A Case Study,” Energy Conversion and Management, Vol. 46, No. 15-16, 2005, pp. 2419-2438. doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2004.11.004
A. S. Ahmed Shata and R. Hanitsch, “Evaluation of Wind Energy Potential and Electricity Generation on the Coast of Mediterranean Sea in Egypt,” Renewable Energy, Vol. 31, No. 8, 2006, pp. 1183-1202. doi:10.1016/j.renene.2005.06.015
I. A. Perez, M. A. Garc?a, M. L. Sanchez and B. de Torre, “Analysis of Height Variations of Sodar-Derived Wind Speeds in Northern Spain,” Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, Vol. 92, No. 10, 2004, pp. 875-894. doi:10.1016/j.jweia.2004.05.002
R. O. Fagbenle, J. Katende, O. O. Ajayi and J. O. Okeniyi, “Assessment of Wind Energy Potential of Two Sites in North-East, Nigeria,” Renewable Energy, Vol. 36, No. 4, 2011, pp. 1277-1283. doi:10.1016/j.renene.2010.10.003
J. V. Seguro and T. W. Lambert, “Modern Estimation of the Parameters of the Weibull Wind Speed Distribution for Wind Energy Analysis,” Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, Vol. 85, No. 1, 2000, pp. 75-84. doi:10.1016/S0167-6105(99)00122-1
L. Lu, H. Yang and J. Burnett, “Investigation on Wind Power Potential on Hong Kong Islands an Analysis of Wind Power and wind Turbine Characteristics,” Renewable Energy, Vol. 27, No. 1, 2002, pp. 1-12. doi:10.1016/S0960-1481(01)00164-1
M. Li and X. Li, “MEP-Type Distribution Function: A Better Alternative to Weibull Function for Wind Speed Distributions,” Renewable Energy, Vol. 30, No. 8, 2005, pp. 1221-1240. doi:10.1016/j.renene.2004.10.003
A. Ucar and F. Balo, “Assessment of Wind Power Potential for Turbine Installation in Coastal Areas of Turkey,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 14, No. 7, 2010, pp. 1901-1912. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2010.03.021
M. Mirhosseini, et al., “Assessing the Wind Energy Potential Locations in Province of Semnan in Iran,” Renew- able and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 15, No. 1, 2011, pp. 449-459. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2010.09.029