This study investigates both the characteristics of the vertical wind profile at the Bobo Dioulasso site located in the Sudanian climate zone in Burkina Faso during a day and night convective wind cycle and the estimation and variability of the wind resource. Wind data at 10 m above ground level and satellite data at 50 m altitude in the atmospheric boundary layer were used for the period going from January 2006 to December 2016. Based on Monin-Obukhov theory, the logarithmic law and the power law made it possible to characterize the wind profile. On the study site, the atmosphere is generally unstable from 10:00 to 18:00 and stable during the other periods of the day. Wind extrapolation models were tested on our study site. Fitting equations proposed are always in agreement with the data, contrary to other models assessed. Based on these equations, the profile of a day and night cycle wind cycle was established by extrapolation of wind data measured at 10 m above the ground. Lastly, the model of the power law based on the stability was used to generate data on wind speed from 20 m to 50 m based on data from 10 m above the ground. Weibull function was used to characterize wind speed rate distribution and to calculate wind energy potential. The average annual power density on the site is estimated at 53.13 W/m 2 at 20 m and at 84.05 W/m 2 at 50 m, or 36.78% increase. Considering these results, the Bobo-Dioulasso site could be appropriate to build small and medium-size turbines to supply the rural communities of the Bobo Dioulasso region with electricity.

The design of a vertical axis wind turbine (Darrieus type) adapted to the site of Cotonou in the coastal region of Benin was investigated. The statistical study of winds based on the Weibull distribution was carried out on hourly wind data measured at 10 m above the ground by the Agency for the Safety of Air Navigation in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA) over the period from January 1981 to December 2014. The geometrical and functional parameters of the wind turbine were determined from different models and aerodynamic approaches. The digital design and assembly of the wind turbine components were carried out using the TOPSOLID software. The designed wind turbine has a power of 200W. It is equipped with a synchronous generator with permanent magnets and has three wooden blades with NACA 0015 profile. The optimal coefficient of lift and drag were estimated respectively at 0.7832 and 0.01578. The blades are characterized by an optimum angle of attack estimated at 6.25° with a maximum fineness of 49.63. Their length is 4 m and the maximum thickness is estimated at 0.03 m with a chord of 0.20 m. The volume and mass are respectively equal to 0.024 m3 and 36 kg. The aerodynamic stall occurs at an attack angle of 14.25°. The aerodynamic force exerted on these blades is estimated to be 240 N. The aerodynamic stresses exerted on the rotor are estimated at 15 864 504 Pa and the solidity at 0.27. The efficiency of the wind turbine is 0.323. From TOPSOLID, the geometrical shape of each component of the wind turbine is represented in three dimensions. The assembly allowed to visualizing the wind turbine after export via its graphical interface. The quantity of annual energy produced by the wind turbine was estimated at 0.85 MWh. This study is the first to be carried out in the study area and could reduce the technological dependence of vertical axis wind turbines and their import for low cost energy production.

In order to estimate the power output of a wind turbine, optimise its sizing and forecast the economic rate of return and risks of a wind energy project, wind speed distribution modelling is crucial. For which, Weibull distribution is considered as one of the most acceptable model. However, this distribution does not fit certain wind speed regimes. The objective of this study is to model the frequency distribution of the three-hourly wind speed at ten sites of Burkina Faso. In this context, we compared the accuracy of five distributions (Weibull, Hybrid Weibull, Rayleigh, Gamma and inverse Gaussian) which gave satisfactory results in this field. The maximum likelihood method was used to fit the distributions to the measured data. According to the statistical analysis tools (the coefficient of determination and the root mean square error), it was found that the Weibull distribution is most suited to the Bobo, Dédougou, Ouaga and Ouahigouya sites. On the other hand, for the sites of Bogandé, Fada and Po, the hybrid Weibull distribution is the most suitable one. As to the inverse Gaussian distribution, it is the most suitable for the Boromo, Dori and Gaoua sites. In addition, the analysis focused on comparing the mean absolute error of the annual wind power density estimation using the distributions examined. The Hybrid Weibull distribution was found to have a minimal mean absolute error for most study sites.

In the present work, the study and design of a horizontal axis wind turbine suitable for the Cotonou site were investigated on the coast of Benin. A statistical study using the Weibull distribution was carried out on the hourly wind data measured at 10 m from the ground by the Agency for Air Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA) over the period from January 1981 to December 2014. Then, the models, techniques, tools and approaches used to design horizontal axis wind turbines were presented and the wind turbine components characteristics were determined. The numerical design and assembly of these components were carried out using SolidWorks software. The results revealed that the designed wind turbine has a power of 571W. It is equipped with a permanent magnet synchronous generator and has three aluminum blades with NACA 4412 biconvex asymmetrical profile. The values obtained for the optimum coefficient of lift and drag are estimated at 1.196 and 0.0189 respectively. The blades are characterised by an attack optimum angle estimated at 6° and the wedge angle at 5°. Their length is 2.50 m and the maximum thickness is estimated at 0.032 m for a rope length of 0.27 m. The wind turbine efficiency is 44%. The computer program designed on SolidWorks gives three-dimensional views of the geometrical shape of the wind turbine components and their assembly has allowed to visualize the compact shape of the wind turbine after export via its graphical interface. The energy quantity that can be obtained from the wind turbine was estimated at 2712,718 kWh/year. This wind turbine design study is the first of its kind for the study area. In order to reduce the technological dependence and the import of wind energy systems, the results of this study could be used to produce lower cost wind energy available on our study site.