A 30 MW wind farm project for creta island

Abstract After a demand from the municipality of Heraklion a feasibility study has been undertaken for the installation of a 30MW wind farm in Creta island. As a first step, the site selection for the installation was performed based on a number of criteria such as wind potential, terrain particularities, local grid capacity and amount of work needed for site preparation. In the selected site a mean annual wind speed of 8.7 m/sec at 30m height was measured by the PPC during the years 1980–1982. The performance of six commercially available wind turbines ranging from 100–400 KW is, then, analysed. Calculations concerning the expected annual energy production as well as the monthly and diurnal variations are performed. These calculations are compared to the system's demand in order to define the wind energy penetration percentage on an hourly basis for each season of the year. The results show an important wind energy penetration but at levels which should not, in principle, cause any problems to the existing electrical power generation system. The project seems to be economically attractive.