Wind power potential in Oman

Abstract

Solar energy and wind are likely to play an important role in the future energy generation in Oman. This article assesses wind power cost per kWh of energy produced using four types of wind machines at 27 locations within Oman. These sites cover all regions in Oman. Hourly values of wind speed recorded between 2000 and 2009, in most cases, were used for all 27 locations. Wind duration curves were developed and utilized to calculate the cost per kWh of energy generated from four chosen wind machines. It was found that the cost of energy is low in the south and middle regions of Oman compared with that in the north region. The most promising sites for the economic harnessing of wind power are Thumrait, Qairoon Hairiti, Masirah, and Sur, with an energy cost of less than 0.117 US$/kWh when 2000 kW, 1500 kW, 850 kW, or 250 kW wind turbines are used.

Design of Photovoltaic Water Pumping System as an Alternative to Grid Network in Oman

“…Although the potential of renewable energy in Oman, particularly solar energy, is very promising, however solar energy applications are limited to street lighting, traffic lights, telephone in remote areas, cathodic protection of pipelines and providing part of energy to some buildings. The desert and northern parts of Oman areas have the highest solar energy density while the coastal areas in the southern part have the lowest solar energy density and relatively high wind speed [1][2][3][4][5].…”

Feasibility analysis of renewable hybrid energy supply options for Masirah Island

“…A hybrid wind and/or PV-diesel system (with and without battery) is a proven technology for electric energy supply to remote places far from the grid (Shrestha and Goel 1998, Anindita et al 2009, Khan and Iqbal 2009, Al-Badi 2011a, 2011b, Al-Badi et al 2011 In this paper, feasibility analysis of the RE options for Masirah Island is presented. The wind speed data (Ministry of Transport and Communications; Directorate General of Civil Aviation and Meteorology 2009) that cover the period from 1997 to 2008 and the solar insolation level from 2004 till 2007 at Masirah have been analysed to assess the technical and economic feasibility of utilising an isolated hybrid wind and/or PV -diesel -battery power system for the electrification of this Island.…”

Power Generation Expansion Planning Including Large Scale Wind Integration: A Case Study of Oman

“…In [10], the article assessed wind power cost per kWh of energy produced using four types of wind machines at 27 locations within Oman. These sites cover all regions in Oman.…”

“…In real systems also because of poor capacity credit attributed to wind energy a lot of backup supply has to be provided. The candidate plant of 2 MW taken from [10] is used to demonstrate the economic feasibility at one of the best sites of Thumrait. Table 1 gives the technical data of wind turbine.…”

“…However, ample literature on wind energy potential and its application in Oman is available which suggests that there is a significant potential available in the southern part and the coastal area of the country [4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. The study also does not consider the cost related to wind power evacuation from the south to the north of the country where the major load exists.…”