Moroccan wind farm potential feasibility. Case study

Highlights: • A new methodology for the technical feasibility of wind farm potentials is proposed. • The wind resources of two different sites in Morocco are compared. • Comparison between short and long term data using multivariate analysis is made. • Geographic information system implementation. • A 10 MW wind farm is designed and optimized. - Abstract: The subject of this paper is the elaboration of a methodology to study the technical feasibility of a wind farm potential. The implementation of this methodology allows a comparison between the wind resources of two different sites in Morocco. One site is located in the region of Essaouira, whereas the other one is located in the region of Safi. The comparison is based on real wind data collected from two masts at the heights of 30, 50, and 60 m. Each of the masts is installed at one of the mentioned potential sites over a fixed time period, lasting fifteen months for the first site, and eight months for the second one. The aim is the determination of the most applicable site presenting a good potential for a statistical study in order to predict long-term wind behaviors. Thus, the geographical situation study of the chosen site including topography, roughness and obstacles, is carried out. Furthermore, the wind resource using data, generated by the measuring masts, is evaluated. Finally, the areas which present great wind potential are located and the wind farm turbine locations are optimized by using the WAsP software.