Geospatial Analysis of Wind Energy Siting Suitability in the East African Community

Samuel Bimenyimana (), Chen Wang (), Godwin Norense Osarumwense Asemota, Jeanne Paula Ihirwe, Mucyo Ndera Tuyizere, Fidele Mwizerwa, Yiyi Mo and Martine Abiyese
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Samuel Bimenyimana: Intelligence and Automation in Construction Provincial Higher-Educational Engineering Research Centre, Huaqiao University, Xiamen 361021, China
Chen Wang: Intelligence and Automation in Construction Provincial Higher-Educational Engineering Research Centre, Huaqiao University, Xiamen 361021, China
Godwin Norense Osarumwense Asemota: African Centre of Excellence in Energy for Sustainable Development, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda
Jeanne Paula Ihirwe: Department of Economics and Management, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300130, China
Mucyo Ndera Tuyizere: Center for Geographical Information System and Remote Sensing, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda
Fidele Mwizerwa: Center for Geographical Information System and Remote Sensing, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda
Yiyi Mo: Civil Engineering Department, Huaqiao University, Xiamen 361021, China
Martine Abiyese: Hello Renewables Ltd., Kigali, Rwanda

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 4, 1-32

Abstract: Site investigation is essential for developing and constructing a dependable and effective wind engineering project. Also, the kinetic energy of moving air, used to drive a wind turbine, produces electricity. Having seen the shortage of previous studies on wind energy sites’ suitability across Africa and having read about the abundance of untapped wind energy resources in the East African region, this paper used Geographical Information System (GIS), multi-criteria, and Analytic Hierarchy techniques to provide a geospatial analysis of wind energy technology siting suitability in Eastern African Community Countries. Different data were acquired and processed from numerous open-access databases (Global Wind atlas, Regional Center for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD), African Geoportal, East African community website, and Energy data Info.org). The results reveal Kenya has large parts of its land areas highly appropriate for wind energy siting (15.26%) and 1.55% of its land classified as unsuitable for wind energy generation. The rates of suitability and unsuitability were respectively 26.57% and 4.87% for Burundi, 20.6% and 10.21% for Rwanda, 20.39% and 10.44% for Tanzania, and 4.65% and 27.15% for South Sudan. The findings also show that East Africa exhibits moderate levels of wind energy siting suitability, with an estimated average of around 37.27% of its land area moderately suitable for wind energy technology installation, covering thousands of square kilometers. The study is advantageous to academia and industry-related personnel engaged in renewable energy-related activities in other African countries with similar topographies.

Keywords: climate change; geographical information system; spatial analysis; East Africa; wind energy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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