TITLE:
WIND ENERGY MAP OF ARABIAN GULF
AUTHORS:
Khaled Al-Salem, Subramaniam Neelamani, Waleed Al-Nassar
KEYWORDS:
Wind Energy, Arabian Gulf, Weibull Distribution, Gulf Cooperation Council, Kuwait
JOURNAL NAME:
Natural Resources,
Vol.9 No.5,
May
31,
2018
ABSTRACT: Wind power is not only pollution free and renewable
but is becoming more economical with technology development. The countries
around the Arabian Gulf region are investing for wind powers both the land and
in their marine space. A detailed study on wind power resource in the Arabian
Gulf is not available. This paper is on the wind energy resource availability
over Arabian Gulf waters, covering 2300 grid points. The data available with
Coastal Information System data base at Kuwait Institute for Scientific
Research, Kuwait, from 1979 to 2015 is used. The probability density and power
density were derived from these data source. Weibull probability density
function has been fitted to the wind speed data and the wind power density was
evaluated. The study is carried out at 10 m, 30 m and 50 m elevations. The
central location of the Arabian Gulf has higher annual average wind speed,
ranging from 6 to 8 m/s at 10 m elevation, 7 to 8 m/s at 30 m elevation and 8 to 9 m/s at 50 m elevation. The scale parameter “c” at central location of Arabian Gulf is found to range from 6 - 8 m/s for 10 m elevation, 7 - 8 m/s for 30 m elevation and 8 - 9 m/s for 50 m above sea level. The
Weibull shape parameter k varies from 2.5 to 3 at the north and central of the
Arabian Gulf. The annual mean wind power density over Arabian Gulf Waters is
the highest in the central region of the Gulf. The power density at 10 m, 30 m
and 50 m hub height varies between 200 to 300 w/m2, 200 to 300 w/m2 and more than 300 w/m2 respectively. It is
attractive to install large scale wind power generation at the central region
of the Arabian Gulf and at elevations of 30 m or 50 m, since this region lies in Class 2 category of the Wind Energy Resource
Atlas of the United States. The wind power density is
attractive especially in summer season around the central region location in
Arabian Gulf (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar), since high rate of power is used for air conditioning systems in
summer.