The wind speed characteristics are analyzed statistically based on a long-term hourly data record to evaluate the proper wind energy potential. The annual average wind speed and wind power density are investigated and compared by some significant indices, wind energy output and capacity factor, to show the variations of proper wind turbine specifications of installation in different locations of Taiwan. The minimum cost of wind energy is used to assess the economical feasibility for turbine installation in Taiwan. Great variations occur in the simulation results in both of the cost of energy and capacity factor. The detailed statistical analysis should be conducted to ensure the successful operation after wind turbine installations.

In this paper, the Weibull, Gamma, Lognormal, Rayleigh probability density functions (PDF) were used to statistically analyze the characteristics of wind speed and evaluate the energy based on hourly records from years of 2004 to 2009 at 24 locations in Taiwan. Weibull model shows the best goodness probability density function for estimating behavior of wind characteristic within six years at 7 sites of weather station better than using the Gamma and Rayleigh model. The annual mean wind power density is estimated and compared by different index. The feasibility of probability distributions at different locations were investigated.