INTRODUCTION

WIND ENERGY POTENTIAL IN NIGERIA

Nigeria is a well endowed country with abundant wind energy resources which can be used to generate
electricity. However, despite the abundance of these energy resources, there is persistent electricity
supply deficit, which may be attributed to under utilization of these potentials. Other major barriers to
the deployment of wind energy technology in the country include high initial cost of wind power
generation, systemic issues governing reliable transmission and system integration, social acceptance of
technology and energy market structure. The non-proper coordination of activities in the energy sector
largely because of lack of concrete policy and energy plan is also worth mentioning.Wind energy has
been widely used in Nigeria to power water supply for many decades now. In recent times efforts are
largely geared towards its use for electricity generation. In Nigeria, typical wind pattern occurs mostly
from the east for inland areas and from the west over the coastal areas. During the harmattan period
(December – March) strong winds appear covering the country especially in the northern parts where
the main wind direction shifts to west / south western directions. A study on the wind energy potentials
for a number of Nigerian cities shows high wind speeds in the Sokoto region, Jos, Gembu and Kano /
Funtua. The stations at Maiduguri, Lagos and Enugu also indicated relatively strong wind speeds,
sufficient for energy generation by wind farms. Apart from these sites, other promising regions with
usable wind potentials are located at the Nigeria’s shoreline [1]. The proper utilization of these wind
energy potentials will ensure promotion of socio-economic development as well as quality of life of the
citizenry. Furthermore, wind energy like other power technologies based on renewable energy
resources is fast evolving globally and widely available, thereby ensuring security of supply. Prior to
construction of any wind farm, a detailed verification of the specific on-site wind conditions is necessary
to come up with a suitable wind map in other to identify those areas which have favorable wind regimes
and can therefore be selected for the development of wind energy projects.This section therefore
attempts to give an overview of the nations wind energy potentials, enumerating the numerous
challenges hindering its development and identify some measures that will possibly lead to inclusion of
wind in the energy supply mix to satisfy our growing energy demand, diversify our supply sources to
guarantee energy security and align with the new global trend of green energy growth.

electricity has been widely used in Nigeria to electricity water deliver for lots many years now. In latest
times efforts are in large part geared towards its use for energy technology. In Nigeria, ordinary wind
sample occurs more often than not from the east for inland regions and from the west over the coastal
areas. During the harmattan length (December – March) strong winds seem masking the u . S . A . In
particular inside the northern components where the principle wind direction shifts to west / south
western instructions. A observe at the wind electricity potentials for a number of Nigerian towns
indicates high wind speeds
METHODOLOGY

WIND FOR ELECTRICITY GENERATION

For effective performance and maximum yield of wind power systems, project planning and siting as
well as reliable prediction in terms of wind resource is a prerequisite. Electricity is generated from wind
through the use of wind turbines also known as wind energy converters (WEC). The main components of
a WEC include rotor blade, generator, pitch, wind measurement system, brake, gear box, rotor hub, yaw
mechanism, nacelle, transformer and tower. The wind turbines convert the kinetic energy of wind into
mechanical energy and then to electrical through the generator. The generator may be of fixed or
variable speed. Due to changing wind speed and direction, the yaw mechanism is used to turn the
blades of the wind turbines in line with wind direction to increase its output. The collection of wind
turbines for purpose of electricity generation is called a wind farm and its planning involve series of
processes. Upon identification of the proposed site, wind data are collected for a period of at least 12
months on-site to ascertain general wind pattern for the whole year. Then, the data obtained is
evaluated and analyzed with different wind turbines to determine the best for the site.

Agbetuyi et al [2], estimates wind energy density at 25m height for some 22 selected sites across the
country. The table below provides detailed potentials and wind energy densities of the sites

DISCUSSION

The blade diameter, tower height and rated power all depends on wind data characteristics. Other
factors that need to be considered include accessibility and distance of the proposed site to the grid.
Wind farm requires a considerable size of land area for its construction. In order to ensure efficiency,
higher output and avoid wind theft, a minimum distance of 3D (3 times diameter of blade) between
turbines and 5D to 7D in main wind direction is recommended Wind turbines are manufactured based
on specification and are usually not off-shelf. Delivery may take up to a year and thus, setting up a wind
farm from the scratch takes a period of at least 2 ½ years. WEC have maximum theoretical efficiency of
60% but only about 45% in practice. Wind farms can be onshore or offshore. The offshore wind turbines
need to have solid foundations and protection from corrosion. Hence, they are more expensive than
onshore farms. The upside of offshore farms is the increase in yield. Load factor of onshore wind farms is
usually 20-30% while that of offshore wind farms is 30-43%. After about 20 years of operation wind
turbines have to be decommissioned. Re-powering with a larger more efficient turbine is an economical
choice.

most of the data's and reports regarding Wind energy potential were simply based on measurements
from few wind stations located within the country. For instance, Adekoya and Adewale [4]analyzed wind
data of 30 stations, while Ajayi [3], analyzed ten years data from 10 wind stations. Increasing both the
number of stations and reference years would increase the accuracy of the results. Thus, latest results
(NIMET [5]) based on the outcome of using 40 years (1968 − 2007) available average wind data from the
whole forty-four wind stations across the states of the federation showed that (Fig. 1), the country’s
wind regime is found to lie majorly between poor to moderate regimes, with the southern states having
their mean wind profile at 10 m height in the range between 3.0 − 3.5 m/s, depending on the states, and
Northern states capable with mean wind speeds of between 4.0 − 7.5 m/s. This means that, Nigeria has
good wind resources over most part of the country. Although, wind speeds in the southern states are
low, they can however be employed for standalone power generating systems using small scale wind
turbines. This if employed, will be a major breakthrough for rural and sub-rural areas not connected to
national electricity grid. Hence, clusters can be created with turbines generating electricity for remote
villages or collection of thousands of households.With the low load factor of wind power plant, it can be
used to boost the nation’s electricity by targeting intermediate to peak load demand taking its
advantage of quick start and stop.

CHALLENGES OF DEPLOYMENT/SUGGESTIONS

There are a series of challenges affecting wind energy deployment in the country. These include lack of
financing and other fiscal incentives, lack of skilled manpower and lack of indigenous manufacturing
capabilities. Others include, lack of policy and institutional framework to encourage investment and
deployment of wind energy technology. Low load factor of wind farms makes it unsuitable for base load
power plants

The federal government through its various agencies should develop more wind farm sites across the
country, establish local manufacturing industries for wind energy systems, create enabling environment
for investors to widen research activities. The Energy Commission of Nigeria should also carry out
offshore mapping.

THE GOVERNMENT EFFORT IN DEVELOPMENT OF WIND ENERGY technology IN NIGERIA

The Federal Government has confirmed the completion of a 10MW Wind farm which would be the first
of its kind in Nigeria. the 10MW Katsina Wind Farm Project is set to improve electricity and boost
economy in both kastina and it's environs.The project originally began in 2005 when the late Umaru
Musa Yar’adua was governor of the state before it was taken over by the Federal Government in
2007.At its current stage of commissioning earlier in March 2021. the power plant will require step-up
transformers for each turbine 315KVA/33KV/400V, SCADA system (for data collection, performance
monitoring, control and supervision), installation of 2× 7.5MWA transformer and accessories as well as
two years operation and maintenance spare parts.According to the ECOWAS observatory for Renewable
Energy and Energy Efficiency, the Katsina Wind Farm would consist of 37 GEV MP 275kW, in northern
Nigeria. With this start, the future of wind energy technology in the country is expected to be a
promising one.

CONCLUSION

The use of wind power to generate and supply electricity will expand Nigeria’s energy base and reduce
environmental pollution. Hence, sites identified with superb wind energy potentials should be
adequately harnessed. Effort should be made to address issues of integration to the national grid.All
necessary policies and institutional framework should be put in place to eliminate barriers to
deployment of wind energy technology in the country.

REFERENCES

[1] Lahmeyer International and Federal Ministry of Science and Technology Nigeria, Wind Energy
Resources Mapping and Related Work Project, (Abuja: 2004)

[2] Agbetuyi et al, Wind Energy Potential in Nigeria,International Electrical Engineering Journal, Vol. 3
No.1, pg. 59

3)Adekoya, L.O. and Adewale, A.A. Wind energy potential of Nigeria, Renewable Energy,1992, 2(1), 35–
39.

4)Ajayi, O.O, Modelling the wind energy potential of Nigeria, Covenant University, Ota 2007. 5)Nigeria
Meteorological Agency (NIMET), Meteorological data, Nigeria Meteorological Agency, Oshodi, 2009

6)International Journal of Modern Engineering Research (IJMER) Vol.2, Issue.4, July-Aug. 2012 pp-2434-
2437

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL of RENEWABLE ENERGY RESEARCH

Baba M. T et al. ,Vol. 4, No. «noheader», 2014