Optimal site matching of wind turbine generator: Case study of the Gulf of Suez region in Egypt

During the last few years, Egypt has emerged as the leader of wind power in the Middle East and Africa. In the Gulf of Suez region, a continuously expanding large-scale grid-connected wind farm is available at Zafarana site. The Gulf of EL-Zayt site in the Gulf of Suez region is now under extensive studies related to wind power projects such as feasibility and bird migration studies. Therefore, the Gulf of Suez region is considered in this paper for optimal site matching of wind turbine generator (WTG). This paper treats the problem of site matching of WTG through improved formulation of the capacity factor. Such factor is estimated based on Weibull PDF and an accurate model for the WTG output-power-curve. Ornithological, martial, and other limitations placed on WTG hub heights in the Gulf of Suez region in Egypt are taken into account. In addition, a MATLAB based program is created to implement the presented technique of optimal site matching of WTG. Based on turbine-performance-index (TPI) maximization, optimal output-power-curve and optimal commercial WTG are determined for each candidate site in the Gulf of Suez region. Long-term performance measurements at Zafarana wind farms in comparison with the results are used to validate the presented technique and the optimality of the results.