Salah Ahmed

Wind Analysis and Potential Energy Estimation: Wind Extrapolation, Weibull Function, Wind Power Density Salah Ahmed

Increasing negative effects of fossil fuel combustion on the environment in addition to its limited stock have forced many countries to explore and change to environmentally friendly alternatives that are renewable to sustain the increasing energy demand. Wind is a free,clean and inexhaustible energy source. In this study,statistical analyses of the wind speed data for 23 meteorological stations located at various topographic locations in Iraqi Kurdistan Region, for periods from 1967 to 2007, have been carried out and assessed. The wind data at height 45 m were obtained by extrapolation of the data at 10 m height using the power law formula. The wind energy potential of the site is also statistically analyzed which is based on wind speed data. This study describes the influence of simple and complex terrain on the wind field. The Weibull function is used for representing wind speed frequency distribution. The wind potential energy of the region was statistically analyzed and based on mean annual time-series wind speed. The wind source in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region is classified using the standard scheme which was proposed by other studies.