2011 International Conference on Alternative Energy in Developing Countries and Emerging Economies
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etc. are used to make a projection on the technical power
potential and the potential annual energy production that
can be generated.
In this study, the technical power potential and
potential annual energy production is estimated for two
scenarios: (i) at 80 m above ground level which
corresponds to wind farms with multi-MW wind turbines
having hub heights of 80 m, and (ii) at 40 m above
ground level which corresponds to single installations of
small wind turbine having hub heights of 30 m to 40 m.
For both scenarios, several assumptions are made;
however, no provision is made with regards to landscape
conservation, migratory corridors for birds and to land
that could be the subject of claims, nor does it differ
between public and private land. The projections do not
include constraints due to access to roads and distance to
electricity transmission lines. In the 80 m scenario, the
nominal power of the virtual wind turbine is 3 MW,
while the area occupied by one turbine is 0.33 km
2
. In
the 40 m scenario, the nominal power of the virtual wind
turbine is 50 kW, while the area occupied by one turbine
is 2.25x10
-4
km
2
. In both scenarios, the respective
capacity factor of a wind class is based on a Weibull
distribution with a k factor of 2.0 and a wind shear
exponent of 0.14.
Table IV shows results from the technical power
potential at 80 m for both Nakhon Si Thammarat and
Songkhla provinces. As can be seen from Table IV, a
total of 1,374 MW of wind farms could be installed on
parcels of land covering 131 km
2
throughout the territory
of Nakhon Si Thammarat and Songkhla provinces; this
corresponds to approximately 1% of the land area of both
provinces. Further, these wind farms could generate
approximately 3.6 TWh in total annual energy
production.
For its part, Table V shows results from the technical
power potential at 40 m for both Nakhon Si Thammarat
and Songkhla Provinces. As can be seen from Table V, a
total of 407 MW of wind turbines having each an
installed capacity of 50 kW could be installed on parcels
of land covering 46 km
2
throughout the territory of
Nakhon Si Thammarat and Songkhla province; this
corresponds to approximately 0.3% of the land area of
both provinces. Further, these wind turbines could
generate approximately 1.0 TWh in total annual energy
production.
Results from the development of the Wind Atlas of
Nakhon Si Thammarat and Songkhla provinces,
Thailand, have shown that the region has a good wind
regime along the Phuket mountain range and Songkhla
Lake, along with a moderate to low wind regime along
the Gulf of Thailand coastline at 100 m above ground
level. The wind regime in the other areas is generally
low, even at 100 m above ground level.
Finally, at the present time, as commercial wind
turbines operating at low wind regime are increasingly
available, the region should eventually be able to benefit
from wind energy development along the Phuket
mountain range, the Songkhla Lake or its coastlines.
Fig. 10. The geographical distribution of five met stations along the
coast of Nakhon Si Thammarat province.
Fig. 11. The geographical distribution of five met stations along the
coast of Songkhla province.
TABLE
III
C
OMPARISON OF
O
BSERVED
W
IND
S
PEEDS AT THE
M
ET
S
TATIONS AND
C
OMPUTED
W
IND
S
PEEDS AT
40
M
A
BOVE
G
ROUND
L
EVEL
No.
Station Name
Observed
Mean Wind
Speed
(m/s)
Computed
Wind
Speed
(m/s)
Relative
Difference
(%)
1.
Khanom
3.26
3.02
7.4
2.
Sichon
2.33
2.60
-11.5
3.
Thasala
3.44
2.91
15.4
4.
Pakphanang
3.81
3.57
6.3
5.
Huasai
3.91
3.46
11.5
6.
Ranot
3.49
3.53
-1.2
7.
Sathingphra1
3.10
3.78
-22.0
8.
Sathingphra2
3.62
3.93
-8.7
9.
Singhanakhon
4.28
3.56
16.8
10.
Chana
4.16
2.99
28.0
