Assessing wind energy potential in Malawi for power generation
Abstract
The current world's demand for energy needs exploring other energy sources. More
studies are being conducted on the renewable energy resources are because of their
friendliness to the environment. The objective of this study was to assess wind energy
potential in Malawi, results of which would lead to harnessing wind energy in the
country. Daily mean wind speed values for 16 sites from Malawi were analyzed in this
study. Monthly and seasonal variations of wind speed were determined. Wind energy
potential was also determined and monthly and annual mean wind energy potential
values have been estimated. the analysis has shown that there is higher wind energy
potential in the lakeshore areas, especially the central lakeshores and the northern tip of
the country. The analysis has also shown that most of the areas in the south of Malawi
have low wind energy potential. Weibull distribution was used to estimate the frequency
distribution. The results show that given hourly data, the distribution can provide a good
estimate for the distribution. More research needs to be done in order to get accurate
estimate of available wind energy in Malawi.
Citation
A Research Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for a Post Graduate Diploma in Meteorology University of NairobiPublisher
Meteorology, University of Nairobi