Technical and Economic Assessment of a 10 MW Wind Farm at Pakphanang District in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province

This paper presents the technical and economic assessment of a 10 MW wind farm at Pakphanang district in Nakhon Si Thammarat province, southern Thailand. The microscale wind resource map within 10 km is developed based on 3 years recorded wind data at 120 m above ground level (agl) (2012-2014) along with computational fluid dynamic (CFD) wind flow modeling with resolution of 90 m. The 5 x 2.0 MW and 4 x 2.5 MW modeled wind farms are positioned along the shoreline with a position criteria of 5 times the rotor diameter between the turbines. The net annual energy production (AEP) and capacity factor (CF) with wake losses are analyzed. The economic analysis is done based on the current project cost and financial incentive (Adder). Results show that the annual mean speed at 120 m agl is 5.2 m/s. The net AEP and CF are 36.60 GWh/year and 41.78%, respectively with wake loss of 0.40%. Under project cost of 75 million THB/MW and 70% debt ratio and Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) tax exemption promotion, the benefit cost ratio is 1.04, the net present value is 65.96 million THB, the financial internal rate of return is 17.70% and the payback period is 4 years. Finally, a 10 MW wind power project could avoid greenhouse gas emission of 19,764 tons CO2eq per year.Keywords: Wind Energy, Wind Farm, Capacity Factor, Wind Flow Modeling, Project Analysis