A statistical analysis of wind energy potential at the eastern region of Saudi Arabia

The energy potential of wind for the eastern region of Saudi Arabia is investigated based on measurements of a complete year data at a coastal location in eastern Saudi Arabia. A suitable Weibull distribution is generated and a comparison of this model is made with the Rayleigh distribution of wind power densities. Two horizontal-axis type of wind energy conversion systems which operate at fixed rpm are considered for the determination of the extractable wind power, and a model of quadratic power output function is used between the cut-in speed and rated speed. It is shown that small-scale wind energy systems are suitable in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia for power generation and irrigation purposes.