An Assessment of Offshore Wind Energy Potential on Phangan Island by in Southern Thailand

This research aims to assess the potential of offshore wind energy in Suratthani province, located in the middle of peninsular Thailand. A 120 m Guy Mast triangle tower was installed at the Phangan Subdistrict Administrative Organization area, Phangan Island. Five weather measurement points including wind speed anemometers, relative humidity detectors and dry bulb ambient air thermometers were placed at heights of 65, 90, 100, 110 and 120 m, while the two wind vane detectors were fixed at 100 and 120 m heights. Data were continuously recorded at 10 min sampling intervals, from December 2011 to November 2012. The average wind speed was 4.28 m/s and the mean wind power density was 85 W/m2. The dominant wind direction was from the north. Based on these data, 9 cases of wind farm layout were simulated to assess their performance. The capacity factors of offshore wind farms were in the range of 0.98-2.68. This suggests that the location and layouts simulated would be poorly utilized investments. However, the higher wind speeds of elevated areas of the island should be similarly assessed.