Evaluation of wind energy potential and electricity generation at five locations in Jordan

Evaluation of the wind power from the knowledge of the mean monthly wind speeds of a typical year, and for five different locations in Jordan is analyzed and assessed. In addition, an investigation into the feasibility of using five different wind turbines of different rated power ranging from 100 kW to 3000 kW at each location to be employed in wind farms is examined. The data of the wind speeds over five years are fitted to the Weibull distribution, which is most frequently used and most appropriate, describing frequency distribution for wind moving over Jordan. The annual mean values of the wind speed and the frequency distributions were found for the five locations studied; Ras-Moneef, Azraq south; Safawi, Queen Alia Airport and Aqaba Airport. The locations included the eastern desert regions where wide plain lands are economically feasible to be used for wind farms. It is apparent from the results of the analysis that the highly promising sites of having good wind energy potential are Aqaba and Ras-Moneef, whereas, the desert sites of Safawi and Azraq South have only moderate potential and Queen Alia Airport have a lower potential. The annual mean values of the wind speed and power density of the observed and theoretical distributions are 5.5 ms−1 and 160 Wm−2 for Ras Moneef, 4.0 ms−1 and 175 Wm−2 for Azraq South, 4.5 ms−1 and 94 Wm−2 for Safawi, 3.13 ms−1 and 31 Wm−2 for Queen Alia Airport and 6.0 ms−1 and 215 Wm−2 for Aqaba Airport, respectively.