Evaluation of wind resources potential and economic analysis of wind power generation in South Africa

Abstract

The presence of adequate renewable energy resources and the rapid development of wind projects in South Africa have led to mapping out of the country’s wind capability. In view of this, the economic prospects of utilizing wind energy as a potential energy alternative in South Africa are examined and discussed from the perspectives of green energy strategies for sustainable energy development. This research work is designed to investigate the economic effects of using the wind turbine (WT) in ten locations in South Africa based on the grid planning and power sector reform. The HOMER application software is utilized in this study to assess the wind resources on provincial and national scales, along with estimating the annual energy generation of the selected locations. The wind energy potential of South Africa is analysed by utilizing the capacity factor (CF), wind penetration and mean output of the WT for various locations in South Africa. The results obtained from the study indicate that the selected sites fall within the range of Class 1V of IEC wind classifications with the annual average wind speed of 4.04 m/s for Pretoria and 6.39 m/s for Cape Town at 50m hub heights. The economic assessment of the WT for electric power generation is carried out by using some key performance indicators (KPIs) such as net energy purchased, energy sold, revenue, grid energy purchased, annual utility bill savings, net present cost (NPC) and cost of energy (COE). It is established from the study that Cape Town is the most suitable location for installation of the WT by utilizing the same load profile and system configuration. The output of this research work can be used by the renewable energy development agencies as inputs to harness the potential of wind resources for strategic planning of the power sector reform and industrial development.