Wind resource assessment of Eritrea, Africa: preliminary results and status

Abstract We describe the approach for, and results of, a pre-feasibility assessment for wind resource development in the recently independent African nation of Eritrea [1] . Sharp regional distinctions in landform and meteorology, in addition to relatively scant historical wind data, preclude a comprehensive assessment based on existing data, motivating a regional approach to the assessment using a diversity of techniques. Our approach combines remote sensing, simplified meteorological modeling, analysis of historical measurements, biological indicators, and short-term spot-measurements to characterize promising wind sites. The southern Red Sea coast is a rich wind resource. Long term Red Sea wind data from the comprehensive ocean–atmosphere data set (COADS) reveal that average annual wind speeds at 10 m along the lower 200 km of coastline are from 6 to 7.5 m/s. The United States Air Force Environmental Technical Applications Center's (USAFTEC's) DATSAV hourly surface wind data for Aseb indicate annual mean wind speeds of 9 m/s for one site, with average winds above 11 m/s during the winter monsoons from October through April.