Temporal assessment of wind energy resource at four locations in Algerian Sahara

• Work: wind energy assessment at four locations in Algerian Sahara with reactualization of wind data (last decade).
• Annual, seasonal and monthly wind energy efficiency extractable for wind energy conversion system of 600 kW rated capacity.
• Regions situated in extreme south of Algeria are windiest.
• The better wind energy potential is given in hottest months in Summer and Spring.

This paper presents a statistical analysis of wind characteristics of four locations situated in Algerian Sahara, namely Bordj Badji Mokhtar, Djanet, Illizi and Tamanrasset, using Weibull distribution function on wind speed data at 10 m height collected in the last decade by the Algerian Meteorological Office. The monthly, seasonal and annual variations were examined by statistical analyses, while wind speeds at 50 m were assessed by extrapolating the 2-parameter Weibull using the power law. It is shown that Bordj Badji Mokhtar has the highest wind potential with the annual mean wind speed Vm = 5 m/s.The average monthly mean wind speed variation ranged from 2.54 m/s at Tamanrasset to 4.94 m/s at Bordj Badji Mokhtar, while the minimum seasonal mean wind speed is recorded at Djanet with 2.65 m/s and the maximum is found to be 5.79 m/s at Bordj Badji Mokhtar. Annual wind power density ranged from 48 W/m2 at Tamanrasset to 204 W/m2 at Bordj Badji Mokhtar is recorded. Weibull parameters k and A together were estimated and compared with the variation of air temperature for the respective locations. Results indicate that wind speed is most important and most uniform in hottest periods. Additionally, the analysis of energy efficiency for wind turbine of 600 kW rated capacity was made for calculating electricity generation and capacity factor for all periods.