Wind resource assessment and economic analysis of a grid-connected wind farm in an Algerian Highlands site

The purpose of this study is to assess the wind potential of Mecheria region and analyze the cost of the energy produced by a wind farm connected to the grid. Ten years of wind data (speed and direction) are analyzed using the WAsP software to obtain the annual wind characteristics A, k, V and P which take the values, respectively, 6.3 m/s, 1.83, 5.65 m/s and $224\mathrm {W}/\mathrm {m}^{2}$. The wind speed at 10m above ground level is mapped to find the windiest areas, and 2MW wind turbines from different technologies are erected to find the one that produces the highest Annual Energy (AEP). Finally, it is proposed, by using the HOMER software, to study the economic impact on the cost of kWh and Net Present Cost (NPC), due to the addition of a wind farm composed of V902MW wind turbines to a system totally dependent on the electrical grid. The environmental impact of harmful gas emissions is also evaluated. The obtained results show that the optimal configuration to satisfy a demand of 431 MWh/d over a 40 MW capacity grid is a farm of 05 wind turbines, with a cost per kWh and an NPC respectively of $0.32 and $643537920 and renewable fraction (RF) of 23%. On another hand, the environmental impact is characterized by a reduction in CO2, SO2 and NOx emissions of 23%. The sensitivity analysis showed that the optimal system depends mainly on the wind speed.