An analysis of wind power potential in Port Said, Egypt

Measurement station with mast of 19 m has been established in a built-up area, near the seashore to study the structure of a coastal location "Port Said" on Suez Canal-Mediterranean Sea intercept in Egypt. From our analysis of the wind data, an important characteristic is revealed in that the wind speed Spring months are more than that in Winter period. This characteristic is opposite to the prevailing wind speed parameters in most European countries. This paper also gives a detailed analysis of measured frequency distributions and monthly wind speed variation with air temperature that can exploited in the best way for fast wind machines. A numerical model was introduced to calculate the monthly and annual average wind energy flux and found to be quite moderate (in excess of 92 kW/m(2) per year at 50 m hub height) for this area. It appears from our research that the expected energy from the wind in Port Said region - which is nearly like an island - lies in the medium range. This potential can be converted to electrical energy specially in the Spring months. However, an immediate application seems to be limited to electricity generation using medium size wind farms and water pumping. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.