Wind resource assessment and economic analysis for electricity generation in three locations of the Republic of Djibouti

In the Republic of Djibouti, due to increasing electricity demands, the government has planned to increase power supply by using renewable resources such as geothermal, solar and wind energy. This work presents the first wind resource assessment in the Republic of Djibouti using measured wind speed data for the period of three years by meteorological stations at eight locations. The results confirmed that three of the eight locations (i.e. GaliMa-aba, Ghoubbet and Bada Wein) have the best resource, with mean annual wind speeds of more than 6.0 m/s. Wind simulations using NCEP-CFSR and ERA5 models reanalysis shows that the seasonal variations are stable between different years and are broadly consistent with the observed wind speed. The feasibility of three wind farms with total capacity of 275 MW at GaliMa-aba, Ghoubbet and Bada Wein is examined. Using the WindPRO program and two commercial wind turbines in according to IEC 61400-1 design criteria, the electricity generation were technically assessed. These wind farms can produce 1073 GWh of electricity per year, approximately equal to Djibouti's expected average annual electrical demand in 2030. The economic evaluation using the present value cost (PVC) method estimate that the generation cost per kWh at these locations varies from 7.03 US.$ cent/kWh to 9.67 US.$ cent/kWh. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.