Assessment of Wind Characteristics and Wind Power Potential of Gharo, Pakistan

The objective of this research work is to assess the wind characteristics and wind power potential of Gharo site. The wind parameters of the site have been used to calculate the wind power density, annual energy yield, and capacity factors at 10, 30, and 50 m. The wind frequency distribution including seasonal as well as percentage of seasonal frequency distribution has been investigated to determine accurately the wind power of the site. The coefficient of variation is calculated at three different heights. Also, economic assessment per kWh of energy has been carried out. The site-specific annual mean wind speeds were 6.89, 5.85, and 3.85 m/s at 50, 30, and 10 m heights with corresponding standard deviations of 2.946, 2.489, and 2.040. The mean values of the Weibull k parameter are estimated as 2.946, 2.489, and 2.040 while those of scale parameter are estimated as 7.634, 6.465, and 4.180 m/s at 50, 30, and 10 m, respectively. The respective mean wind power and energy density values are found to be 118.3, 92.20, and 46.10 W/m2 and 1036.6, 807.90, and 402.60 kWh/m2. As per cost estimation of wind turbines, the wind turbine WT-C has the lowest cost of US$ Cents 0.0346/kWh and highest capacity factors of 0.3278 (32.78%). Wind turbine WT-C is recommended for this site for the wind farm deployment due to high energy generation and minimum price of energy. The results show the appropriateness of the methodology for assessing the wind speed and economic assessment at the lowest price of energy.