A Techno-Economic Analysis of Wind Energy in Southern Turkey

Turkey's total primary energy production covered 33% of the total energy consumption in 2005. It is predicted that this ratio of 33% will decrease further in the coming years. Therefore, Turkey has to make better use of her renewable energy resources, such as wind and solar. Studies show that Iskenderun (36.35°N, 36.10°E), located on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, is amongst the possible wind energy generation regions. In the present study, the wind energy potential of the region is statistically analysed based on five year hourly time-series wind-speed data at two different wind-turbine heights. Economically usable power generation is hypothetically analysed for various wind turbines employing a typical year, using a model of quadratic power output function. A life-cycle cost analysis is carried out over a 20-year system lifetime. The wind turbine generators considered are of various nominal powers ranging from 0.6 to 500 kW. It was shown that the wind turbine with the nominal power of 500 kW provided the lowest cost of electricity at $0.15 per kWh. This is very close to $0.13, which is the cost of electricity per kWh from the utility in Turkey. The cost of wind electricity per kWh can be significantly reduced if the components of wind energy systems were exempted from taxes and subsidies were introduced.