WIND ENERGY POTENTIAL AS POWER GENERATION SOURCE IN SOUTH-SOUTH REGION OF NIGERIA

Abstract

This study presents an evaluation of wind energy potential in south-south region of Nigeria. Data on monthly wind speed measured at a height of 10 meters was obtained for 4 different locations(Portharcourt, Calabar, Warri, and Eket) from the archive of Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET). For Portharcourt, Calabar, and Warri wind speed data for a period of 30 years (1983 – 2012) and for a period of 23 years (1990 – 2012) from Eket were utilized. The evaluation of wind energy potential was based on Weibull model. Two–parameter Weibull probability density function was employed to analyse the wind speed obtained from selected stations in the south – south region. At each station the performance of different wind turbines and cost of production per kilowatt – hour was also assessed. The results showed that the minimum and maximum wind speed range between 1.61 m/s and 2.27 m/s Portharcourt, 2.06 m/s and 2.55 m/s for Calabar, 2.77 m/s and 3.48 m/s for Eket, and 1.09 m/s and 1.64 m/s for Warri for the period from January to December. The annual mean wind speed over the stations are 2.01m/s, 2.30m/s, 1.43m/s, and 3.08m/s for Portharcourt, Calabar, Warri, and Eket respectively. While the corresponding annual meanpower density vary from 7.49 W/m2 and 55.85 W/m2 for Warri and Eket respectively. The assessment of wind electricity generation using three wind models of AV 928, AV 927, and SWT-3.6-107 were also carried out. The result indicates that AV 928 turbine produce at the highest capacity factor (%) with values ranging from 1.68% (Calabar) to 26.42% (Eket). The production capacity ranges from 12.25kw (Portharcourt) to 506.8kw (Eket) for SWT-3.6-107. This is followed by AV 928 with output power ranging from 10.51kw (Portharcourt) to 479.72kw (Eket), and finally AV 927, with power output ranging from11.07kw (Portharcourt) to 455.02kw (Eket). The cost of production per kilowatt-hour for the selected sites varies between N100.69 at Eket to N347.77 at Calabar. In conclusion analysis of wind energy potential demonstrated that the wind resource in all the sites considered fall into class 1 wind resource category, hence, they can only be considered for small scale standalone system for electricity generation.