Assessment of wind energy potential for selected areas in Jordan

This paper presents a technical assessment of wind power potential for seven locations in Jordan using statistical analysis to determine the wind characteristic based on the measured wind data. Rayleigh distribution is used to model the monthly average data and used to estimate the wind power in the selected locations. Energy calculations, capacity factors and cost of wind energy production were determined for the selected locations with wind machines of different sizes ranging between 1.65 MW and 3 MW. The quantitative estimates of the technical and economic potential are presented graphically. Rayleigh parameter is adjusted to the hub height using one seventh power law to estimate the power output of the machine. The energy cost analyses show that all selected sites have high economic potential with unit cost less than $0.04/kWh of electricity. The lowest unit cost per kWh is obtained by using GE 2.5 MW at Tafila site. Finally, the results of this study reveal that Jordan has high potential wind energy and its environmental and energy policy targets can be met by exploitation wind energy.