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Wind and wind power characteristics of the eastern and southern coastal and northern inland regions, South Africa

Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

The objective of this work is to understand the fluctuating nature of wind speed characteristics on different time scales and to find the long-term annual trends of wind speed at different locations in South Africa. The hourly average mean wind speed values over a period of 20 years are used to achieve the set objective. Wind speed frequency, directional availability of maximum mean wind speed, total energy, annual energy yield and plant capacity factors are determined for seven locations situated both inland and along the coast of South Africa. The highest mean wind speed (6.01 m/s) is obtained in Port Elizabeth and the lowest mean wind speed (3.86 m/s) is obtained in Bloemfontein. Wind speed increased with increasing latitudes at coastal sites (Cape Town, Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth), while the reverse trend was observed at inland locations (Bloemfontein, Johannesburg and Pretoria). Noticeable annual changes and relative wind speed values are found at coastal locations compared to inland sites. The energy pattern factor, also known as the cube factor, varied between a minimum of 1.489 in Pretoria and a maximum of 1.858 in Cape Town. Higher energy pattern factor (EPF) values correspond to sites with fair to good wind power potential. Finally, Cape Town, East London and Port Elizabeth are found to be good sites for wind power deployments based on the wind speed and power characteristics presented in this study.

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Abbreviations

AGL:

above ground level

EPF:

energy pattern factor

WPD:

wind power density

WT:

wind turbine

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Acknowledgements

Authors acknowledge the support of the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia, for funding this work through grant number DF191002.

Location abbreviations

BLFBloemfontein

CPT Cape Town

DRB Durban

ELD East London

JHB Johannesburg

PEZ Port Elizabeth

PRT Pretoria

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Center for Engineering Research, Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia

    Shafiqur Rehman & Luai M. Alhems

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Dr Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology, Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, 642003, India

    Narayanan Natarajan

  3. Department of Electrical Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia

    Mohamed A. Mohandes

  4. Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, 0028, South Africa

    Joshua P. Meyer

  5. Mechanical and Automation Engineering Department, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen Graduate School, University Town, Xili, Shenzhen, China

    Md Mahbub Alam

Authors
  1. Shafiqur Rehman
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  2. Narayanan Natarajan
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  3. Mohamed A. Mohandes
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  4. Joshua P. Meyer
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  5. Md Mahbub Alam
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  6. Luai M. Alhems
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Contributions

SR contributed in performing the analysis and preparation of tables; NN contributed in the collection of literature and in writing the introduction; MAM, JPM, MMA and LMA contributed in writing and reviewing the manuscript. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Narayanan Natarajan.

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The authors declare no competing interests

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Rehman, S., Natarajan, N., Mohandes, M.A. et al. Wind and wind power characteristics of the eastern and southern coastal and northern inland regions, South Africa. Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14276-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14276-9

Keywords

  • Wind speed characteristics
  • Wind power
  • Plant capacity factor
  • Wind frequency
  • Wind turbine