This paper presents an evaluation of wind energy potential in the northern and southern region of Nigeria on the basis of Weibull and Rayleigh models. The aim of this study is to know which of the locations in the regions would have more wind power density where wind energy conversion system (WECS) could be installed for electricity generation in Nigeria with excellent percentage of clean energy. From the analysis of the wind speed data collected from Nigeria meteorological station, Abuja at 10m height from years (1990-2006) the locations in northern region of Nigeria that were found quite viable for electricity generation are (Jos, Kano, Sokoto and Maiduguri) while for the southern region of Nigeria are (Lagos and Enugu). These locations were found to have wind power density above 100W/m 2. The Weibull model was found to be more applicable in estimating the power density because it returns a lower percentage error than the Rayleigh model. Probability density function in the northern region has a peak value of 1.01795 and 0.2937 in Bauchi for both Weibull and Rayleigh respectively while for the southern region the probability density function has a peak value for Weibull as 0.8347 in Calabar and Rayleigh as 0.2341 in Rivers southern region of Nigeria.

In this study, wind characteristics and techno-economic analysis in six selected locations in the northern (Jos, Kano, Sokoto and Maiduguri) and southern (Lagos and Enugu) regions of Nigeria using wind speed data at 10m height collected over a period of seventeen years (1990-2006) were analyzed. The techno-economic evaluations of electricity generation from four commercial wind turbine models used for electricity generation located at these sites were evaluated. The wind speed data analysis shows that the sites evaluated are good locations for wind potential in electricity generation from wind. The yearly energy output, the capacity factor and the wind energy cost per unit of electricity generated by the selected wind turbines are calculated. In terms of energy production, the results show that Plateau is best location for harnessing wind power for electricity generation with an average wind power density of 713.95W/m 2. The maximum energy output was obtained for De wind 48 turbine model. The capacity factor values are found to vary from a minimum of 21% to maximum of 28% for this research work. The results also shows that the cost per kWh of electricity generation using these turbines is between 0.493-0.606$kWh.

A micro-grid system has been designed using wind/diesel generators power sources. The system is aimed to cater for the electricity demand of Kwankwasiyya city Kano, Nigeria. The city has about 400 housing units with average daily electricity demand of 10000 kWhr. The project employed the use of homer, a software that performs Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables. The most appropriate system architecture was chosen from the optimisation result based on the selection factors set (initial investment cost, total electrical production to site primary demand ratio and so on). A system comprising single wind turbine (800 kW), and two generators of 400 kW and 300kW has been selected based on the selection criteria. The electrical output shows that 82% of the total production will be consumed onsite with the remaining would be sold to the grid. The system has a cost of energy value of 0.279 kWh with net present cost of about $11,000,000. The system is economically viable considering the need of reliable power in the region even though, the price of the electricity is higher than what is obtainable from the grid.