Technical and Economic Feasibility of the First Wind Farm on Egypt's Mediterranean Sea Coast

Abstract

Recently, the utilization of wind turbines in the production of clean energy has been increased to achieve sustainable electricity supply, as planned by the government of Egypt through the use of renewable resources like wind power. This paper purposed to assess the wind power potential for the coastal area in Sidi Barrani province, a meteorological station with mast of 10 m was constructed near the Mediterranean Sea shore in Egypt. The density of wind power was assessed at the level of 100 m monthly and seasonally after taking into account the correction of air density. On the annual basis, the station is rated with high potential 441 kW/m2. This is an ideal location for large-scale wind turbine to generate sustainable electricity. A performance assessment was executed using three commercialized wind generators having capacity of 2000 kW from different manufacturers and were also equal in height and rotor diameter, for choosing the best unit suitable for the target area. The economic analysis of a 200 MW coastal wind farm in the studied area was done using the advanced method of present value costs. The findings prove that the proposed project could produce approximately 988 GWh per year of electrical energy with an economic price of 1.7 US cents per kWh. Consequently, this huge sustainable electrical energy produced from this project can be transferred to Southern European countries along the Mediterranean, because it is relatively more than the Egypt's needs. It also limits the burning of local petroleum products, as well as stopping the emission of thousands of tons of carbon annually.