Assessing the technical wind energy potential in Africa a GIS-based approach

Nowadays, Africa faces the challenge of generating more electricity to meet existing and future demand in a sustainable way. Africa is a privileged continent in terms of wind resource regime. However, very little of this has been utilized. It is thus essential to identify and define the amount of wind energy that could be technically exploited on the continent. The utilization of wind energy is associated with a myriad of localization criteria and thus it should be systematically addressed by spatial assessments to guarantee its harmonization with socio-economic systems, infrastructure and ecosystems. This study focuses on onshore wind power on the African continent and strives to provide estimates of theoretical, geographical and technical potential based on state of the art wind power technology. Maps of wind power potential at 80 m, which is the hub height of a modern wind turbine will be derived via statistical distribution of wind speed data and implementation of wind power curves. Screening criteria regarding the localization of wind farms and related to socio-economic and geographic constraints are outlined and implemented through a thorough GIS analysis. The results of this work are presented and compared with similar approaches and significant conclusions are drawn. Based on the analysis there are some countries that signify high yearly wind energy yield, such as South Africa, Sudan, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Nigeria, Mauritania, Tunisia and Morocco, whilst Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Central African Republic, Burundi, Liberia, Benin and Togo indicate the least wind power potential.

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