Monthly and seasonal assessment of wind energy potential at Msila region - Algerian highlands

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate the monthly and seasonal variation of the wind resource in term of wind energy potential using the wind speed data collected between 2008 and 2010 for the meteorological station at Msila location situated in Algerian highlands. The vertical extrapolation of Weibull parameters and mean wind speed at a height of 50m with the analysis of temporal energy efficiency was made using a wind turbine of 600kW rated powers from Fuhrländer manufacturer. The results show that Msila situated in Algerian highlands between Tell in North and Sahara in South has an annual mean wind speed V=4m/s and the annual wind energy production is equal to 1.39GWh/year, while the highest monthly energy produced may be reached in March, and the better seasonal wind energy potential is given in Spring