RenewableEnergy,Vol. 11, No. 4, pp.

479-483, 1997
© 1997ElsevierScienceLtd
~ Pergamon All rights reserved.Printedin Great Britain
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DATA BANK

Wind energy potential in Palestine

RATEB S H A B B A N E H
Palestinian Energy and Environment Research Center, Rafidyah St., Nablus,
Palestinian Authority

and

AFIF HASAN*
Mechanical Engineering Department, Birzeit University, P.O. Box 14, Birzeit,
Palestinian Authority

(Received 28 July 1996: accepted l0 September 1996)

A b s t r a c ~ W e i b u l l parameters of the wind speed distribution function were computed
for 49 weather stations in Palestine. Wind potentials in kWh/m 2 yr were calculated at
the above stations, then contours of wind potential were drawn. Electricity from the
wind can be generated, in some locations in the West Bank, at a cost of 0.07 S/kWh.
© 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.

1. INTRODUCTION
The world energy council projects that the wind energy contribution to the electricity supply might
reach 375 TWh/yr by the year 2000. The forecast for Europe is 4000 MW of wind energy by the year
2000. Meanwhile, in the Middle East, four wind turbines each of 100 kW rated power have been in
operation in Egypt since 1988. In Jordan, 350 kW of wind turbines, have been installed at A1-
Ibrahimya wind farm. Furthermore, 10 turbines, each of 600 kW, have been installed in the Golan
Heights by Israel.
The Palestinian energy sector is characterized by a low annual per capita energy consumption of
520 kWh/yr and a high electricity cost with an average of 0.12 S/kWh in some locations. Where small
diesel generators are used electricity cost can be as high as 0.5 S/kWh [1].
With no proven fossil fuel reserves, solar and wind energy are the only indigenous energy resources
for the Palestinians. Solar energy is used extensively for domestic water heating while wind energy
resources have yet to be assessed.
In this paper wind speed data from 49 weather stations are analyzed, Weibull distribution par-
ameters are determined and wind potentials are then estimated.

2. W I N D S P E E D

Wind speed is site specific as it is affected by the local topography and elevation. Tunneling effects
in the direction of the prevailing wind direction can enhance greatly the wind speed. Long term

* To whom all correspondence should be addressed.

479
480 Data Bank
measurements are needed for a good wind energy assessment. The longer the period of collected data
the more reliable are the estimated wind potentials.
Although we are interested in wind potentials in the Palestinian Territories (P.T) in this study,
wind speeds from 49 stations from all over Palestine are employed. Measurements for the Israeli
stations are over the period 1972-1983 [2] and for the West Bank and Gaza for the period 1940-1947
[3]. The latter speeds are recorded in the Beaufort Force scale. Recent measurements for one year or
less are available in Gaza, Bethlehem, Hebron and Birzeit stations, but were not used in this
assessment.
Wind potential calculations are based on the speed at 10 m height above ground level, hence all
available data are adjusted to 10 m using eq. (1).
V,0 = Vh{[ln 11 +~]/[ln (h+ 1)+c~]}, (1)
where V~ois speed at 10 m, Vh is speed at height h and czis the correction constant, which depends on
surface roughness.
This correction constant is based on the velocity correction factor for different class roughness as
given in the European Wind Atlas [4]. Table 1 presents this constant for different roughness classes.

3. WEIBULL DISTRIBUTION
Produced electricity from a given wind turbine is not only a function of wind velocity but also of
its frequency of occurrence. The Weibull probability function, eq. (2), is the most widely used
distribution in wind energy studies [5].

f(v) = ( k l c ) ( v / c ) k - ' EXP [ - (V/c)k], (2)

where k is the shape factor and c is the scale factor. The Weibull parameters are a function of the
standard deviation of the wind speed and the annual mean wind speed.
The parameters are found by fitting the measured data to eq. (2) using an iterative procedure that
minimized the summation of the absolute difference between the equation and the measured data.
Table 2 shows, for the selected cities, the annual mean wind speed and the Weibull parameters.

Table 1. Correction constant ~ for

speed adjustment

Roughness class

0 4.247
1 1.976
2 1.307
3 0.170

Table 2. Wind speed and Weibull parameters for selected locations

Station Elevation, m Annual mean, m/s k c

Jenin 140 3.65 1.455 4.255

Jericho -260 3.30 2.421 3.721
Ramallah 874 4.80 2.319 5.405
Jersualem 757 4.12 1.736 4.626
Gaza 10 2.90 1.455 3.182
 Data Bank 481
4. WIND ENERGY POTENTIAL
Maximum extractable wind power density is given by the Betz limit, assuming an air density of
1.2 kg/m 3, then the maximum power density is given in eq. (3)
emax : 0 . 3 5 5 8 V 3. (3)

The output power from a wind turbine depends on the wind speed and the power coefficient as
shown in eq. (4)
Poutput = 0.3558 Cp V3. (4)
The average output power from a wind turbine is the power produced at each speed multiplied by
the fraction of time during which the wind speed is experienced, integrated over all wind speed from
cut in to cut out speeds, as given in the following equation
P.... = SP(v)f(v) dr, (5)
where P(v) is the turbine output power, f(v) is the wind speed probability function, V1 is the cut in
speed and V2 is the cut out speed. The total annual energy is obtained by multiplying the average
power by 8760, which is the number of hours in the year.
The power coefficient Cp was established by plotting Cp versus the annual mean speed Vm for
various installed wind turbines, hence the employed Cp in the calculations is a function of the annual
wind speed of the turbine site.
Table 3 presents the roughness class for the selected locations in the Palestinian Authority, the
wind potential is in kWh/m 2 at 10 m, 20 m and 40 m above ground level.
Figure 1 presents a map of Palestine with wind energy potential contours. The contours were based
on data from 49 stations and the topographical features of Palestine. High wind potentials above
500 kWh/m 2 exist at the mountain ranges and summits in the West Bank.

5. WIND ENERGY COST

Simple cost analyses were carried out based on the previous potentials and on the used Cp for
locations which might have different annual mean wind speed. Energy cost was computed in S/kWh
and the pay back period was estimated, based on the indicated annual mean wind speed. The Cps
were obtained from various installed turbines in different locations found in the literature. Table 4
summarizes the cost, pay back period and turbine cost.

6. WIND ENERGY APPLICATIONS

Through a careful examination of Fig. 1 and by knowing the topography of the area, the sites
given in Table 5 are candidate locations for the utilization of wind energy for electricity generation.
Estimated wind potentials and present electricity source, and cost also are shown.
Wind speed measurements in the above locations need to be made in order to evaluate, more
precisely, the potential before installing wind turbines.

Table 3. Wind potential at different heights

Potential, kWh/m 2
Roughness
Location class l0 m 20 m 40 m

Jenin 1 285 431 626

Jericho 3 146 286 505
Ramallah 2 407 659 1013
Jerusalem 2 334 541 831
Gaza 0 152 201 261
482 Data Bank

~ Lebanon 150
,5o['.__..') Z
I

//
........... 600 kWh/m 2 year /
/

. . . . . . . 450 kWh/m 2 year /

\ /
. . . . . 300 kWh/m 2 year
..... 150 kWh]m 2 year

f: =.. .

':22"-... J"
-.' .' .' I I

: I.~'/.'~
" / / ' I i
Z," .' Ii.;,r
Gaza/,'% ." g .:

~,/ ~, Israel

( , ..j' ' , , /
)'"" : 'h-"o

\//

F i g 1. W i n d e n e r g y p o t e n t o i a l c o n t o u r s .
 Data Bank 483
Table 4. Cost of energy and pay back period

Annual mean Max power Electricity cost Pay back

m/s W/m 2 Cp S/kWh yr

3 4.9 0.30 0.680 136

4 17.7 0.46 0.160 33
5 44.4 0.57 0.070 13
6 64.9 0.50 0.046 9.2
7 91.5 0.44 0.034 6.7
8 125.0 0.40 0.026 5.1
9 166.0 0.38 0.020 4.0
10 215.4 0.36 0.016 3.2

Table 5. Potential sites for installing wind turbines

Wind potential Present electricity

Location kWh/m 2 yr cost S/kWh Present electricity source

Kufr Qadom 450 0.45 140 kW diesel generator

Atarah 450 0.33 48 kW diesel generator
Bala'a 450 0.14 Grid--Israeli Electricity
Comp.
Iskaka 450 0.24 68 kW diesel generator
Ammoriah 600 21 kW diesel generators
Jiljliah 550 0.12 Grid--Jerusalem Electricity
Comp.
AI-Mazr'ah A1-Sharquyah 600 0. i 2 Grid--Jerusalem Electricity
Comp.
Hulhol 600 0.13 G r i d - - H e b r o n Municipality
power station
Dorah 450 0.12 G r i d - - H e b r o n Municipality
power station
Sa'er 450 0.19 810 kW diesel generator

The use of wind for running mechanical wind pumping systems, requires the combination of a
relatively high wind speed and low water heads. In general the water wells in the hilly regions of the
West Bank where wind speed is relatively high, are deep.
In some of the given locations there is no electricity supply or it is only available for a few hours
from small diesel generators and at a high cost. This makes the feasibility of using wind turbines for
electricity generation even more attractive.

REFERENCES
1. Present status of electricity services in the West Bank. Palestinian Energy and Environment Center,
Jerusalem, 1995.
2. Bitan, Arieh and Rubin, $., Climatic atlas of Israel for physical and environment planning and
design. Tel Aviv University, Ramot, 1991.
3. Weather report bulletin. Israeli ministry of transport, 1957.
4. Treon, I. B. and Peterson, E. L., European WindAtlas. CEC, Brussels, 1989.
5. Koepple, G. W., Putnam's Power from the Wind. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1981.