An Assessment of the Wind Power Generation Potential of Built Environment Wind Turbine (BEWT) Systems in Fort Beaufort, South Africa

Terrence Manyeredzi and Golden Makaka
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Terrence Manyeredzi: Physics Department, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa
Golden Makaka: Physics Department, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South Africa

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 5, 1-9

Abstract: The physical and economic sustainability of using built environment wind turbine (BEWT) systems depends on the wind resource potential of the candidate site. Therefore, it is crucial to carry out a wind resource assessment prior to the deployment of the BEWT. The assessment results can be used as a referral tool for predicting the performance and lifespan of the BEWT in the given built environment. To date, there is limited research output on BEWTs in South Africa, with available literature showing a bias towards utility-scale or conventional ground-based wind energy systems. This study aimed to assess the wind power generation potential of BEWT systems in Fort Beaufort using the Weibull distribution function. The results show that Fort Beaufort wind patterns can be classified as fairly good and that BEWTs can best be deployed at 15 m for a fairer power output as roof height wind speeds require BEWTs of very low cut-in speeds of at most 1.2 ms − 1 .

Keywords: distributed system; power density; renewable energy; sustainability; utility scale; wind resource (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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