Wind climate parameters, performance and reliability assessment of wind energy farm
International Journal of Energy Sector Management
ISSN: 1750-6220
Article publication date: 2 August 2017
Issue publication date: 18 September 2017
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze wind climate parameters and performance functions, on the basis of two years of data, and reliability of Pakistan’s first wind farm located at Jhimpir, Sindh.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology covers assessment of wind climate parameters including wind variation at different hub heights, wind shear and diurnal wind shear. In addition, a performance assessment of a wind farm on the basis of technical and real availability, capacity factor and failure rate of mechanical and electrical components has been conducted. The Weibull method has been used for reliability analysis. The maintenance model is proposed for improving the performance. Last is about annual energy volume lost and of financial constraints’ assessment.
Findings
The monthly mean wind variation at heights of 80, 60 and 30 m was found to be 8, 6.9 and 5.9 m/s, respectively. The monthly mean wind shear coefficient was found to be 0.2419. The performance assessment of the wind farm includes technical and real availability, and the capacity factor was found to be 97, 90 and 35.5 per cent, respectively. The failure rate found in the first and second year was 8 and 14 per cent, respectively. Reliability decreased from the first year to the second year, i.e. 0.89 to 0.71 per cent. The components’ failure frequency rose to 57.2 per cent in the second year. The lost energy production due to electrical and mechanical failures was 27.241 GWh in two years that cost Pakistani Rs. 329.8m.
Originality/value
The results of the assessment show that a wind farm needs drastic maintenance strategies to maximize the its performance.
Keywords
Citation
Hulio, Z.H. and Jiang, W. (2017), "Wind climate parameters, performance and reliability assessment of wind energy farm", International Journal of Energy Sector Management, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 503-520. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJESM-11-2016-0004
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited