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Design and implementation of wind energy system in Saudi Arabia

Article in Renewable Energy · May 2013

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2013.04.006

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Renewable Energy 60 (2013) 42e52

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Technical note

Design and implementation of wind energy system in Saudi Arabia

Ali M. Eltamaly
Sustainable Energy Technologies Center, Electrical Engineering Dept., King Saud University, P.O. Box 800, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia

A R T I C L E I N F O
A B S T R A C T
Article history: This paper introduces an accurate procedure to choose the best site from many sites and suitable wind
Received 9 November 2012
turbines for these sites depending on the minimum price of kWh generated (Energy Cost Figure (ECF))
Accepted 7 April 2013
from wind energy system. In this paper a new proposed computer program has been introduced to
Available online
perform all the calculations and optimization required to accurately design the wind energy system and
matching between sites and wind turbines. Some of cost calculations of energy methods have been
Keywords:
introduced and compared to choose the most suitable method. The data for five sites in Saudi Arabia
Wind energy system design
Matching between site and wind turbine
and hundred wind turbines have been used to choose the best site and the optimum wind turbine for
Cost of energy each site. These sites are Yanbo, Dhahran, Dhulom, Riyadh, and Qaisumah. One hundred wind turbines
Price minimization of the generated kWh have been used to choose the best one for each site. This program is built in a generic form which
allows it to be used with unlimited number of sites and wind turbines in all over the world. The
program is written by using Visual Fortran and it is verified with simple calculation in Excel. The paper
showed that the best site is Dhahran and the suitable wind turbine for this site is KMW-ERNO with 5.85
Cents/kWh. The worst site to install wind energy system is Riyadh with minimum price of kWh of 12.81
Cents/kWh in case of using GE Energy 2 wind turbine.
© 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction characteristics, its geographically remote locations, and the elec-

Wind energy applications require open area or available shores
for wind energy plants. Saudi Arabia is a vast country with wide
open areas and long shores. The wind speed in most of these areas
is high enough to make the application of wind energy economical.
Saudi Arabia authorities recognize the importance of renewable
energy, especially, wind, and they will invest billions in this
promising sector of power. Even though Saudi Arabia has huge
resources of oil, it is keenly interested in taking an active part in
the development of new technologies for exploiting and utilizing
renewable sources of energy [1]. The electricity production from
wind will save oil that can be exported for increasing national in-
come. Also, the production of electric power from wind energy will
reduce environment pollution that could be generated from con-
ventional power plants. Recently, a lot of researches in the evalu-
ating the applications of wind energy systems in Saudi Arabia are
introduced. Most of these researches recommend wind as a
promising and economical source of energy in Saudi Arabia [2e10].
While the wind resource potential in Saudi Arabia is significant,
there are many issues surrounding its development. These include
the intermittency of the resource, its seasonal and diurnal
E-mail addresses: eltamaly@ksu.edu.sa, eltamaly@yahoo.com.
trical grid infrastructure that must be used to transmit the wind
energy to load areas. All of these issues pose significant technical
barriers to the full development of Saudi Arabia’s wind potential.
The matching between the site and wind turbine has been
introduced in many literature [11,12]. Most of these researches did
not take into account many important issues like the suitable
economical situation in Saudi Arabia and the energy balance be-
tween the required load and the generated power. Also, the market
available software such as Homer, Retscreen, and etc are not flex-
ible enough to change the cost calculations and it is not able to
extract much information as those available from the new pro-
posed computer program.
This paper introduces an accurate procedure to choose the best
site from many sites and suitable wind turbines for these sites
depending on the minimum price of kWh generated from wind
energy system. In this paper a new proposed computer program
has been introduced to perform all the calculations and optimiza-
tion required to accurately design the wind energy system and
matching between sites and wind turbines.
Starting any program of using wind energy system in a utility
scale in any country in the world requires many steps. The first
step is to collect accurate wind speed data for many sites to be
used in the selection process of the best site. The second step is to
deter- mine the load curves which required to be supplied. The
third step

0960-1481/$ e see front matter © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2013.04.006
 Author's personal
A.M. Eltamaly / Renewable Energy 60 (2013) 42e52
is to collect the data of available wind turbines in the market. This
leads to the question ‘What is the most appropriate wind turbine
for a particular site?’. The aim of this research is to provide an ac-
curate answer to this question. A new proposed computer
program is designed in this paper to answer this question and
many other questions. The function of the proposed program is to
decide which the best site from many available sites is, and which
the suitable wind turbine for each site and the minimum price for
generated kWh. This decision requires very accurate statistical
calculations. Another information can be extracted from this
computer program such as the Weibull parameters, capacity factor
and other infor- mation that may be helpful for researchers. The
steps of these processes are very long and require long time and
great efforts for calculations and optimizations. The new proposed
computer pro- gram will solve this problem in a very short time
and gives accurate results in a flexible fashion. This computer
program can be applied in any region in the world because it has
the flexibility to change the economic calculation to suit any
country and it is able to handle unlimited numbers of sites and
wind turbines.
2. Design of the proposed computer program
The flowchart of the computer program is shown in Fig. 1. The
program has a main part and five subroutines. Each subroutine
will perform a certain function as shown in the following sections.
This program has been applied to the five sites in Saudi Arabia.
The performance data of hundred of market available wind
turbines were used to select the most suitable one for each site.
3. Program input data
Wind speed variation of the site and the performance charac-
teristics of wind turbines are the main factors that affect the per-
formance of wind energy system and affect the cost of kWh
generated from it. The data required for the program are:
previous section. After that, the flow will go to subroutines to make
the calculations, comparisons, and optimizations. Each subroutine
makes a certain function and then sends its results to the next
Reading the data Wind turbine parameters Hourly wind speed Hourly load power
subroutines. The function of each subroutine is illustrated in the
following:
Weibull Parameters Calculation, (c and k)
Calculating CF, Pav, and ANWTG
Energy Balance Subroutine
Cost Estimation
Use the data for new WTG
yes no
Is there any other WTGs?
Use the data for new site
yes Is there any other sites?
no
Output Results
Fig. 1. Simple block diagram of the computer program.
43
1. Hourly wind speed data for Yanbo, Dhahran, Dhulom, Riyadh,
and Qaisumahsites of Saudi Arabia will be used. The hourly
wind speed data of these sites will be processed using sta-
tistical procedures. The computer program can perform the
optimization for unlimited number of the available data sites.
Wind data is collected from many sources as metrological
authority and over the internet. Wind speeds can be collected
for many sites for different period of times. Meteorologists
generally conclude that it takes at least 5 years of wind data
to determine a reliable average and variance of the wind
speed. Some researchers claim that shorter period of time
may be acceptable for designing renewable energy system
with acceptable confidence [12]. It is better to have a small
interval between each reading of the wind speed data. Thirty
minutes are recommended interval between each two points
of data. But, this may not available for all sites under study
because some of these sites have one-hour interval. So, the
interval used in this research paper is one-hour to fit all
available data.
2. Performance data for market available wind turbines are
introduced, such as rated power, hub height, diameter of
swept area, cut-in speed, rated speed, cut-out speed, price of
wind turbine, and efficiency of the mechanical and electrical
system. In this step hundred market available wind turbines
are introduced to the computer program. The computer
program can perform the optimization for unlimited number
of wind turbines.
3. Hourly loads required to be supplied from the wind energy
system. The load data used in this program is actual data for
small city in Saudi Arabia. The average power required for this
load is 22.5 MW.
4. Steps of the proposed computer program
The main computer program reads all the data mentioned in
4.1. Weibull parameters calculations
The purpose of this subroutine is to determine the Weibull,
scale and shape parameters, c and k. A good estimation for c and k
can be obtained quickly as the following [13]:
c ¼ 1:12U ð1:5 ≤ k ≤ 3:0Þ (1)
Also, if the mean and variance of the wind speed are known,
then approximation for k from Ref. [13] can be used as shown in
(2);
s —1:086
k ¼ (2)
U
The variance of the Weibull density function can be shown to
be:
k k " 2ð1 þ 1=kÞ
G
2 1 2
Gð1 þ 2=kÞ
s 2 ¼ c2 G 1 þ — G2 1 þ ¼ ðUÞ
(3)
This is a reasonably good approximation over the range
1 k 10. Once k has been determined, c can be obtained as the
≤
following:
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44 A.M. Eltamaly / Renewable Energy 60 (2013) 42e52

U
c
Gð1 þ 1=kÞ h o ¼ Cp h m h g (13)
(4)
¼
A relation between c and k and other parameters such as If Pe > PL; Then PT ¼ Pe — PL and Pf ¼ 0 (14)
average wind speed and hub height is extracted from the results of
this subroutine.
If Pe > PL; Then PF ¼ PL — Pe and PT ¼ 0 (15)
Another method depends on the accurate statistical analysis for
obtaining Weibull parameters has been used in this computer For energy balance the following conditions must be satisfied:
program [14]. The final results for the Weibull parameters are: 8760 8760 8760 8760

k ¼ a X X X X
Pe ðiÞ — PL ðiÞ ¼ 0; PT ðiÞ ¼ PF ðiÞ ¼ 0 (16)
(5) i¼ 1 i¼ 1 i¼ 1 i¼ 1
c ¼ expð—b=kÞ

where
P
Pw w 4.4. Energy price calculation
Pw xi yi P P
i¼ 1 i¼ w
xiyi — w This subroutine is used to compute the ECF for each site and
a ¼ i¼ 1
i¼ i w
2
ðxw i¼ 1 i each type of wind turbine.
Pw ¼
1 i ¼— ðy —
x ! P 1 ðx i — xÞ 2
P
i
x2 — 4.5. ECF optimization subroutine
w
i¼
1 i¼ 1
w
i (6)
The purpose of this subroutine is to select the minimum value of
w w
X X ECF and then determine the corresponding site and wind turbine
1 a type.
b ¼ yi — axi ¼ yi — xi (7)
w w
i¼ 1 i¼ 1

and 5. Economic analysis method

yi ¼ lnð— lnð1 — FðuiÞÞÞ;

The economic analysis proposed in this section is used to
xi ¼ lnðuiÞ (8) estimate the price of the generated unit energy from wind en-
ergy system. The estimation of the price of the generated kWh
depends on the accurate estimation of the wind speed data and
4.2. Capacity factor and average number of wind turbines the costs of the components and the operating and maintenance
calculation costs. The general purpose of such methods is not only to
determine the economic performance of a given design of wind

The purpose of this subroutine is to determine the Capacity energy system, but also to compare it with conventional and
Factor, CF, and the average number of wind turbine generators, other renewable energy based systems and to match between
ANWTG. The capacity factor can be obtained from the following the site and wind turbine depending on the minimum energy
equation [13]: price. The following are different methods of overall economic
h i h i analysis:
k k
exp — ðuc =cÞ — exp — ður =cÞ ki

CF ¼ ður=cÞ —kðuc=cÞ — exp — uf =c 5.1. Simplified economic analysis methods

k
(9) There are two simplified methods are discussed in the following
The average power of wind turbine can be calculated as: sections. These methods provide fast feasibility study for installing
wind energy system and it can be used to make matching between
Peave ¼ CF $Per (10) site and wind turbines depending on the lowest price of the
generated kWh. These methods are representing simple but not
The average number of wind turbine generator can be
accurate techniques to calculate the price of the kWh generated
calculated
from wind energy system.
as:
PLav
ANWT
Peave (11) 1) Simple payback period analysis
¼
A payback calculation compares revenue with costs and de-
4.3. Energy balance subroutine termines the length of time required to recoup an initial invest-
ment. The simplest payback period (in years) can be obtained from
the following equations [15]:
The purpose of this subroutine is to determine the optimal 1
number of wind turbines required and the yearly energy gener- Pe ¼ r*At*u3*Nt*h0 (12)
ated from
2 the wind energy system. Then the optimum number of
wind turbines required and the energy output for each case can
be obtained. The output power from wind energy system is given
by:
 Author's personal

SP ¼ CC=AAR (17)

AAR ¼ Ea PE (18)

SP ¼ CC =ðEa Pe Þ (19)
It should be pointed out that the calculation of simple
payback period omits many factors that may have a significant
effect on the
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A.M. Eltamaly / Renewable Energy 60 (2013) 42e52 45

system economic cost effectiveness. These include escalating fuel XN

(in a hybrid power system) and loan costs, depreciation on capital A A A 1
PV ¼ þ þ :::::: þ ¼ A (25)
j2 N
r þ
costs, operation & maintenance costs (O&M), and variations in the 1 ð1 þ rÞ ð1 þ rÞ j¼ 1 ð1 þ rÞ
value of delivered electricity. Some of these variables are
attempted to be included in some author’s calculations for a
simple payback period [16e19]. This method is a simplest method
and it takes short
time to do the calculations and get the preliminary results and 3) Capital recovery factor
information.
The analysis team uses SP of 10 years or less to avoid assuming The capital recovery factor (CRF) is used to determine the
values for energy escalation rates and O&M inflation factors that amount of each future payment required to accumulate a given
are required for other life-cycle cost values [20]. present value when the discount rate and the number of payments
are known. Using Equation (25), the capital recovery factor is
2) Cost of energy analysis given by Ref. [15]:

The cost of energy (COE) is defined as the cost of the kWh h

—N
generated from wind energy system. That is: CRF ¼ r= 1 — ð1 þ rÞ ; if rs0 (26)
1=N if r ¼ 0
Operating costs
Cost of energy (20)
¼Energy produced
4) Net present value
The simplest calculation of COE is given by Ref. [15]:
The net present value (NPV) is defined as the sum of all relevant
COE ¼ ½ðCC *FCRÞ þ CO&M ]=Ea (21) present values. From Equation (22), the present value of a future
The fixed charge rate, FCR will generally reflect the interest on cost, C, evaluated at year j is [15]:
pays or the value of interest received if money were displaced
j
from savings. PV ¼ C=ð1 þ rÞ (27)
Thus, the NPV of a cost C to be paid each year for N years is [15]:
5.2. Life-cycle costing methods
N N
X X
Life-cycle costing (LCC) is a commonly used method for the C
NPV ¼ PVi ¼ (28)
economic evaluation of energy producing systems based on the j¼ 1 j¼ 1 ð1 þ rÞ j
principles of the ‘time value’ of money. The following
If the cost C is inflated at an annual rate i, the cost Cj in year j
parameters are included in the LCC analysis:
becomes [15]:
1) Time value of money and present worth factor
Cj ¼ Cð1 þ iÞ j (29)
A unit of currency that is to be paid (or spent) in the future will Thus, the net present value, NPV, becomes:
not have the same value as one available today. This is true even if
there is no inflation, since a unit of currency can be invested and
bare interest. Thus its value is increased by the interest. The future XN 1þ i C
j
NPV
value, FV, after N years is j 1
N The savings version of net present value, NPVs is defined as
FV ¼ PVð1 þ rÞ (22)
follows [15]:
The present worth factor, PWF is given by Ref. [15]:

—N
XN 1þ i
j
PWF ¼ PV=FV ¼ ð1 þ rÞ NPVs ðS — CÞ
j 1
If only cost factors are considered, then a cost version of net
present value, NPVC, may be used. NPVC may be found from the
2) Levelizing following equation [15]:
1 1þ i
Levelizing is a method for expressing costs or revenues that NPVC ¼ pd þ paY ;N þ CCfOMY ;L (32)
occur once or in irregular intervals as equivalent equal payments 1þ r 1þ r
at regular intervals. Considering a loan of value PV N is to be repaid
Levelized cost of energy (COEL) for the utility-based calculation
with a single payment FN at the end of N years. The payment is
of cost of energy can be given by Ref. [15]:
[21]:

N
FN ¼ PVN$ð1 þ rÞ (24) P ðLevelized annual costsÞ
COE (33)
Annual energy production
L ¼
A loan that is to be repaid in N equal installments can be
Using CRF and NPVC the COEL can be calculated by Ref. [5]:
considered as the sum of N loans, one for each year, the jth loan
 Author's personal

being repaid in a single installment A at the end of the jth year. ðNPVC CRF
COE (34)
Thus, the value, PV, of the loan equals [21]: Annual energy production
¼L
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46 A.M. Eltamaly / Renewable Energy 60 (2013) 42e52

5.3. Electric utility based economic analysis

j
I ¼ XIi $ð1 þ rÞti (38)
In the United States, electric utilities and the wind industry
i¼ 1
commonly use either of following two methods to estimate the
COE from a utility-sized wind energy system: O&M costs depend on the number of wind turbines, the wind
turbine type and the site conditions. This method recommends
1) EPRI TAG method project specific estimates of the O&M costs to be specified for each
year of the scheme’s lifetime.
This method produces a simplest form for wind energy Social costs (SC) may be associated with environmental
damage, nuisance to people, etc. Sometimes social costs of wind
systems; energy production are small or negligible, especially when
COE is calculated as [22]: compared to those associated with energy generation from non-
renewable
0 1 sources.
—
B
COE ¼ FCR C — (35) Replacement cost (RC) or major repairs during the adopted
@ c C
Aþ
CO&M
8760•CF
lifetime should be evaluated, and it is recommended that project
specific estimates are made of the timing and cost of possible
Since this method produces a levelized energy cost it can be
major repairs.
applied to a number of technologies, including conventional power
The salvage value (SV) is defined as the difference between the
plants (with the addition of fuel costs) for a useful comparison
scrap value and the decommissioning cost of the entire scheme at
index. Some limitations of the EPRI TAG method include that it
the end of the lifetime adopted for the economic analysis.
assumes a debt term life equal to the life of the power plant and it
The discount rate (r) defined as the rate at which the nominal
does not readily allow for variable equity return, variable debt
rate, i, exceeds the inflation rate, v, i.e. [25]:
repayment, or variable costs.
1þ i
2) Cash flow method 1 þr (39)
1þv
The cash flow method is based on the use of an accounting type The relation between the annual utilized energy (AUEt) and the
spreadsheet that requires an annual input of estimated income annual net energy (ANEt) is described as [26]:
and
expenses over the lifetime of the project [23,24]. The cash flow AUE ¼ ANE $K $K (40)
method allows for the real variations that can be expected in cost, t t lost; t util; t
operational, and economic data, such as price increases, inflation,
and changing interest rates. AUEt ¼ ANEt $Klost; t $Kutil; t
¼ Epot$Kper; t $Ksite; t $Kava; t $Klost; t $Kutil; t (41)

5.4. Levelized production cost (LPC) The annual potential energy output (Epot) of a wind turbine
experiencing specific meteorological conditions is given by Ref.
In this method the cost components are assumed to be the [25]:
investment cost, operation and maintenance cost, repair
N
cost, salvage value and social cost. The following sections Z
introduce two approaches to calculate the levelized production Epot ¼ 8760$
pðuÞ$f u du (42)
cost: 0

The wind speed distribution f(u) should ideally be based on

1) First approach
In this approach it is assumed that all costs are given in a fixed
currency for a specified year. The currency and cost level year
should be decided and clearly declared by the assessor when
reporting the estimated cost of energy. In these calculations all
costs are discounted to the present value. The discounted present
value of the total cost (TC) is given as [25]:
n [29]:
X —t —n
TC ¼ I þ ðO&Mt þ SCt þ RCtÞ$ð1 þ rÞ — SV $ð1 þ rÞ
t¼ 1
The levelized production cost is given as [25]:
n
—t
LPC ¼ TC= XAUEt$ð1 þ rÞ
t¼ 1
In many cases one or more of the input parameters of this
approach will be known explicitly, and of course, the known
figures should be used whenever possible.
The investment (I) should include all the costs of constructing
many years of on-site wind speed measurements, but in practice it
will often be necessary to extrapolate long term wind data from
nearby high quality measurement stations, using for instance the
wind atlas method [27], or by applying the statistical “measure-
correlate-predict” approach [28].
The power curve p(u) normally gives the net power output for
standard air density conditions and for carefully selected weather.
For a stall regulated wind turbine, p(u) can be calculated by Ref.
r
¼ pðuÞstd $ (43)
(36) pu 1:2
The performance of a wind turbine may be reduced due to dirt,
rain or ice on the blades. Cleaning of the blades must be included
in the O&M costs or a reduction in the annual energy output DEper, t
(37) relative to the potential output must be assumed. The wind
turbine
performance factor Kpert, t can be calculated as [30]:
DEper; t
Kpert; t ¼ 1 — Epot (44)
the wind energy conversion systems.
 Author's personal

The total investment can be calculated by Ref. [25]: In some cases the site surroundings may change with time due
to erection of new wind turbines, tree planting, construction of
new houses, etc. thus influencing the wind speed distribution
and the
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A.M. Eltamaly / Renewable Energy 60 (2013) 42e52 47

energy output from the wind turbine. In such cases, the reduction

%
2
%
2
2
in annual energy output, DEsite, t,due to the changed surroundings

8
should take into account. The annual reduction may be expressed
by means of the site factor Ksite, t as [30]:

7
Ksite; t DEsite; t
¼ 1—
(45)
Epot$Kper t

5
;
The technical availability factor Kava, t is defined by the energy

7
loss DEava, t due to the wind turbine availability as:

DEava;t Wind Turbines Civil Work Electrical Installations Land Rent Grid Connections Project Management
Ka a t ¼ 1 — Insurance Consultancy Financial Cost
(46)
v Epot $Kper;t $Ksite;t

The annual electrical transmission losses factor Klos, t can be

calculated as [25]: Fig. 2. Fair range of the cost share of different components of the wind energy system
for commercial size wind turbine.

Klos; t DElos; t
(47) wind energy system components, but an approximate cost analysis
¼ 1—
ANEt methodology can be used in this paper. This methodology was
Kutil is the utilization factor and defined as [25]: applied to determine the cost per kWh in each type of wind turbine
DEutil; t and each site. This method is simple, efficiently and used to
util ; t (48) compare the cost of energy from alternative generating devices.
K ¼ 1 ANEt $Klos; t From the fourth subroutine the total price of kW generated by
wind turbine approximately equal to $700 per kW (based on year
of 2010). The total price of microprocessor is $2.3 per kW, the
total price of main substation is $10.4 per kW, the total price of
2) Second approach modem for remote control in central control station is about $4.16
per kW and the total price of transmission line is about $1.3 per
This approach assumes that the annual utilized energy to be kW. Then:
constant from year to year (i.e. AUE t AUE for t 1 to n). In such
¼ ¼
case, the LPC can be calculated as [25]: TPWTG ¼ $700*NWTG*Pr (52)
LPC ¼ I=ða$AUEÞþ TOM=AUE (49)
TPMIC ¼ $2:3*NWTG*Pr (53)
a is the annuity factor and is defined as [25]:
TPMS ¼ $10:4*NWTG*Pr (54)
n

a ¼ 1= t .
X ð1 þ rÞ—t ¼ 1 — ð1 þ rÞ—n TPCCS ¼ $4:16*NWTG*Pr (55)
r (50)

¼1

TOM is the total levelized annual “down line costs” and is

defined as [25]: TPTL ¼ $1:3*NWTG*Pr (56)

n The cost of the operation and maintenance is about 10% of the

—t —n
TOM ¼ a $ XðOMt þ SCt þ RCtÞð1 þ rÞ — SVð1 þ rÞ
—1 total cost. Then:
t¼ 1
(51) Total Price ¼ 1:1*ðTPWTG þ TPMIC þ TPMS þ TPRC þ TPCCS
þ TPTLÞ
(57)

6. Economic performance sensitivity analysis Total Price ¼ 1:1*ð718:16*NWTG*PrÞ (58)

The previous sections have described a number of techniques

to determine the economic performance parameters that can be Total Price*LF (59)
ECF ¼ YE*0:9
used to evaluate various wind systems, or to compare their
performance with other types of power system. These economic At 12% interest and 10 year recovery time, LF ¼ 0.177.
techniques have different evaluation ideas and different
assumptions. One of these techniques may be suitable for certain
project and the other may not suitable.
7. Summary of the output results
The cost share of different components of the wind energy
system for commercial size wind turbines (from 2 to 5 MW) is The cost of kWh produced is very important for the consumers
shown in Fig. 2 [31,32]. This price range may differ from country and power companies to return a profit on the capital invested. It is
to country. very difficult to determine an accurate cost of the kWh generated
 Author's personal

due to the variation of wind speed and changing in the price of Many results have been extracted from the proposed computer
program. Each part in the computer program can provide the re-
searchers with a lot of helpful information due to the wide input.
The results of this computer program have been checked with the
results obtained from software packages used in this application
such as Homer and Retscreen. The following is the summary of the
output results:
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48 A.M. Eltamaly / Renewable Energy 60 (2013) 42e52

16 3.5
data 2 linear
15

14 3
Rated wind speed,

13

Shape
Yanbou
12 2.5
Yanbou Dohloum
Dohloum
Dahhran Dahhran
Riyadh
11 Riyadh Qaysoma Qaysoma

10 2
2 2.5 3 3.5 4 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240
Cut-in wind speed Hub Height

Fig. 3. The relation between the rated and cut-in wind speeds. Fig. 5. A relation between the shape parameter, k along with the hub height, h of wind
turbines for five sites under study.

1) From the data of one hundred wind turbines, the relation be-
tween the rated and cut-in wind speed is shown in Fig. 3. The
relation between the rated wind speed and cut-in wind speed
is obtained by linear interpolation and the equation is shown
in (60). This curve shows design constraints for the rated and
cut in wind speed.
Vr ¼ 1:2679 Vc þ 8:5227
It is clear from Fig. 3 that the rated wind speed is directly pro-
portional to cut-in wind speed. Also, the minimum cut-in and rated
wind speed is 2.5 m/s and 10 m/s respectively. The maximum cut-in
and rated wind speed is 4 m/s and 15 m/s respectively.
Relations between scale and shape parameters along with the
hub height, h of wind turbine are shown in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5
respectively. Fig. 4 shows that the value of scale parameter, c is
directly proportional to the hub height, h. This relation is very
useful in case of it is required to obtain the value of scale
parameter, c at any height. It is also clear from Fig. 5 that the shape
parameter, k is almost constant for different hub heights. Also it is
clear that the value of shape parameter, k is directly proportional
to the hub height with very low slope where the change in value of
k is less than 5% in the range of hub height.
The relation between the scale parameter and average wind
speed for three-sites under study is shown in the following Fig. 6.
It is clear from this figure that the scale parameter, c is directly
pro- portional to the average wind speed of the site, V for all sites.
Also, it is clear that the linear relation between scale and average
wind speed lie on a linear relation in ideal way for all sites. So it is
easy to
get the scale parameter for any site from its average wind speed
from the following relation:
c ¼ 1:1064*Uav — 0:49812 (61)
Many references have introduces a relation between scale pa-
rameters and average wind speed. O.A. Jaramillo [33] uses Gamma
function to predict this relation as shown in (62). The results ob-
(60)
tained from Ref. [33] are typically aligned on the curve shown in
Fig. 11. G. L. Johnson [34],E. L. Skidmore [35] gives another linear
relation between scale parameters and average wind speed as
shown in (63).
Uav 1
¼ G 1þ (62)
c k
c ¼ 1:12*Uav (63)
The relation between the shape parameter and average wind
speed for five-sites under study is shown in Fig. 7. It is clear from
this figure that the shape parameter, k is directly proportional to
the average wind speed of the site, Uav but the change in shape
parameter; k is very limited with change in average wind speed.
The relation between shape and scale parameters for five sites
and one hundred wind turbines under study is shown in Fig. 8.
From this figure it is clear that, the relation is linear but differs
from site to site. This relation is shown in many references [35] as a
single
10 C=1.1064*uav-0.49812

9
8.5

8
8
Scale Parameter,

7.5

7
Parame te

6.5
6
6
Sc

Yanbou Yanbou Dohloum Dohloum Dahhran Dahhran

5.5 Riyadh
Riyadh Qaysoma Qaysoma
5
5

4.5 4
40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Hub Height Average wind speed

Fig. 4. A relation between the scale parameter, c along with the hub height, h of wind Fig. 6. The relation between scale parameter and average wind speed for five-sites and
turbines for five sites under study. one hundred wind turbines under study.

3.5
Yanbo Yanbo Douhlom Douhlom Dahhran Dahhran Riyadh Riyadh Qayssuma Qayssuma
3
Shape
2.5
2
4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5
Average wind Speed
Fig. 7. The relation between shape parameter, k and the average wind speed for five
sites and one hundred wind turbines.
relation as shown in the following equation (64) [35] which is not
correct for all sites.
k ¼ 0:52 þ 0:23c
The generation of electrical energy by wind turbine at a specific
site depends upon many factors. For a given wind site, the
following parameters should be known or can be calculated, the
mean wind speed and Weibull scale parameter (c) and shape
parameter (k). Also, for specific wind turbine the performance
parameters should be known that include: cut-in (uc), rated (ur),
and furling (uf) wind speeds, the hub height, and the rated power.
The rated speed is the most important for wind turbine deign. If
the rated speed is chosen too low to utilize the low wind speeds,
much energy will be lost in the higher wind speed. On the contrary,
if the rated speed is too high, the turbine seldom operates at its
rated capacity and also will lose too much energy at lower wind
speed. This means the rated speed has to be selected such that the
turbine yields higher energy. To achieve this condition a suitable
relation between the site parameter (such as average wind speed)
and rated wind speed (as wind turbine parameter) with the
capacity factor, CF is obtained to get the condition for maximum
capacity factor as shown in Fig. 9. This relation is drawn for five
sites and one hundred wind turbine under study. From this figure
it is clear that the capacity factor is increasing considerably with
increasing the average wind speed and slightly increasing with
reducing the rated speed. This is cor- rect in the normal operating
range.
In extending the operation of the wind turbine beyond the
normal operating range, the capacity factor increases with
increasing the ratio of average and rated wind speed till Uav/ur
3.5
Yanbou
3 Yanbou Dohloum Dohloum Dahhran Dahhran Riyadh Riyadh Qaysoma Qaysoma
shape
2.5
2 0.2
4.5 5 5.5 6.5
6
Scale Parameter , c
Fig. 8. The relation between shape parameter and scale parameters for five sites and
one hundred wind turbines.
Author's personal
A.M. Eltamaly / Renewable Energy 60 (2013) 42e52 49
8 8.5 9
Fig. 9. The relation between average wind speed of site, rated wind speed of wind
turbine and the capacity factor, CF.
equal approximately to 1.22 as shown in Fig. 10. After this value
any increase in the ratio Uav/ur will reduce the capacity factor of
the wind turbine. The critical value of 1.22 is the average condition
(64)
for the five sites under study. The normal operating is always
below this value in most cases.
The results of energy price along with the capacity factor of the
five sites are shown in Fig. 11. It is clear from this figure that the
energy price inversely proportional to the capacity factor.
The energy unit price in Cents/kWh for five sites along with
average wind speed and Uav/ur and one hundred wind turbines is
shown in Fig. 12 and Fig. 13 respectively. It is clear from this
figure that the price of generated kWh is inversely proportional to
Uav/ur.
The price of kWh generated from five sites and the best five out
of one hundred wind turbines are shown in Table 1 and Fig. 14. The
best wind turbine for each site and the price of kWh generated in
this matching is shown in Table 2. Its clear from these tables that
the lowest price for kWh is stand for Dhahran site and KMW-ERNO
wind turbine which is 5.85 (Cents/kWh). So, it can be said that the
best site for wind energy system installation is Dhahran and the
best wind turbine is KMW-ERNO. This wind turbine also is the best
wind turbine for Qaisumah and Dhulom sites with 6.06 and 7.06
(Cents/kWh) respectively. This wind turbine (KMW-ERNO) does
not give the minimum ECF for the other two sites (Yanbo and
Riyadh), where the minimum ECF for these two sites are in using
of Acciona- 6 and GE Energy 2 wind turbines with 5.97 and 12.81
(Cents/kWh) respectively. So, it is recommended to use KMW-
ERNO wind tur- bines in Dhahran, Qaisumah, and Dhulom sites and
to use Acciona-6 and GE Energy 2 wind turbines in Yanbo and
Riyadh respectively. It is clear from Table 1 and Fig. 14 that
Dhahran, Yanbo, and Qaisumah
Simulation Results Curve fitting
0.8
0.6
Capacity factor,
0.4
0.2
0
0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
7 7.5 8 8.5
Uav/Ur
Fig. 10. The relation between Uav/ur and capacity factor for five sites and one hundred
wind turbines under study.
 Author's personal

50 A.M. Eltamaly / Renewable Energy 60 (2013) 42e52

35
Table 1
Yanbou Douhlom Dahhran Riyadh Qaysoma
The energy price in Cents/kWh for five sites and best five out of one hundred wind
30 turbines.

25
Energy Price

20

15

10

5
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4
Capacity Factor, CF

Fig. 11. The energy price in Cents/kWh for five sites along with the capacity factor for
one hundred wind turbines under study.

30
Simulation Results Curve Fitting

25

20
Energy Price

15
 Author's personal

ECF Dhahran Yanbo Qaisumah Dhulom Riyadh

KMW_ERNO 5.85 5.98 6.06 7.06 13.11

Acciona-6 6.02 5.97 6.36 7.24 12.87
GE Energy 2 6.06 6.10 6.49 7.34 12.81
Goldwind_3 6.12 6.06 6.52 7.42 13.32
GE_Energy_3 6.28 6.17 6.63 7.5 13.22

10
Fig. 14. The energy price in Cents/kWh for five sites and best five out of one hundred
wind turbines.
5
4.5 5 5.5
6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 Table 2
6
Average Wind Speed The best WTG and ECF value for each site.

Site The best WTG ECF

Fig. 12. The energy price in Cents/kWh for five sites along with average wind speed for
one hundred wind turbines under study.
Yanbo Acciona_6 5.97
Dhulom KMW-ERNO 7.07
Dhahran KMW-ERNO 5.85
are the best sites and the highest price for kWh is associated with Riyadh GE-Energy-2 12.81
Riyadh. It is clear that the price of kWh generated in Riyadh is Qaisumah KMW-ERNO 6.06
twice its value if we install the wind energy system in Dhahran,
Yanbo, or Qaisumah. So, it is not recommended to install wind
energy system in Riyadh. 8. Conclusions

The calculation of kWh generated from wind energy system is

30 Simulation Results Curve Fitting the main factor which determines the visibility of installing wind
energy system in any site. Wind turbine can be suitable for one site
25 and may not suitable for the other site. Matching between the site
and wind turbine is important before starting installing wind tur-
bines in any country. In this study five sites in Saudi Arabia are
20 used to select the best one and one hundred market available wind
turbines. A proposed computer program is introduced in this
Energy Price

paper to handle the whole steps of the design of the wind energy
15
system in very short time. Unlimited numbers of sites and wind
turbines can be used with this computer program. The salient
10 results from this paper show that the best site from the five sites
under study is Dhahran and the suitable wind turbine for this site
is KMW-ERNO with 5.85 Cents/kWh. The worst site to install wind
5
0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 energy system is Riyadh with minimum price of kWh of 12.81
Uav/Ur Cents/kWh in case of using GE Energy 2 wind turbine. This shows
clearly that the price of kWh generated in Riyadh is twice its value
Fig. 13. The energy price in Cents/kWh for five sites along with (Uav/ur) for one hun- if we install the wind energy system in Dhahran. So it is not
dred wind turbines under study.
recommended to install wind energy system in Riyadh. KMW-
ERNO wind turbine is the best wind
 Author's personal

A.M. Eltamaly / Renewable Energy 60 (2013) 42e52 51

turbine for Qaisumah and Dhulom sites with 6.06 and 7.06 (Cents/ PV the present value.
kWh) respectively. This wind turbine (KMW-ERNO) does not give PWF the present worth factor.
the minimum ECF for the other two sites (Yanbo and Riyadh), r the discount rate.
where the minimum ECF for these two sites are in using of SP the simple payback period.
Acciona- 6 and GE Energy 2 wind turbines with 5.97 and 12.81 TC the total cost.
(Cents/kWh) respectively. So, it is recommended to use KMW- ti the years before the start of commercial operation of the
ERNO wind tur- bines in Dhahran, Qaisumah, and Dhulom sites wind power installation.
and to use Acciona-6 and GE Energy 2 wind turbines in Yanbo and TOM the total levelized annual “down line cost”.
Riyadh respectively. TPCCS the total price of remote control in central control
station. TPMIC the total price of controllers.
Acknowledgments TPMS the total price of main substation.
TPTL the total price of transmission line.
The authors acknowledge the National Plan for Sciences and TPWTG the total price of wind turbines.
Technology program (Project No.08-ENE226-02) by King Saud Uav the mean wind speed m/s.
University for the financial support to carry out the research work Uav/ur The ratio of average and rated wind speed.
reported in this paper. uc the cut-in speed.
uf the cutoff speed.
Lists of symbols and Abbreviations ur the rated speed.
WTG wind turbine generator.
r the corrected monthly air density Kg/m3.
DE
—los, t the annual electrical transmission loss.
C the cost of operation and maintenance normalized per
O
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