Algorithm for the Performance Evaluation of Three Selected Wind Energy Conversion Systems (WECS) for Electricity Generation in Minna, Nigeria

Abstract

Most of the wind energy conversion systems are failing in many developing countries such as Nigeria due to poor and un-appropriate site selection. Ten years (2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010) daily average wind speed data measured at 10m height for Minna (9.6°N, 6.6°E and 251m) were obtained from Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and the characteristics of the three small scale wind energy conversion systems with power rating of 1, 1.5 and 3.0 kW obtained from the manufacturers websites were used in this study for the performance evaluation of three selected wind energy conversion system (WECS). The performance of the selected WECS were compared using the capacity factors obtained for the turbines from the algorithms developed, that combine the daily average wind speed and standard deviation for the location with the selected turbines characteristics provided by the manufacturers. The annual energy output for the WECS were found to be 1.37MWh, 1.23MWh and 2.53MWh with corresponding capacity factor of 18.8%, 11.2% and 8.4% respectively from e3001 (1kW), Ge-Power System 1.5SL (1.5kW) and Gv-3kW (3.0 kW). The e30001 (1kW) was observed to performed better with capacity factor of 18.8% as against 11.2% and 8.4% for Ge-Power system 1.5SL (1.5kW) and Gv-3kW (3.0 kW) respectively for Minna location.