An investigation on wind energy potential and small scale wind turbine performance at İncek region – Ankara, Turkey

Highlights: • Weibull parameters for İncek region were calculated using five different methods. • Wind power density was calculated using the best representative Weibull parameters. • Energy generation of three small scale wind turbines were calculated. • Two wind turbines can supply yearly energy need of an average household in Turkey. - Abstract: Renewable energy resources increased their importance in the last decades due to environmental pollution problems. Additionally, the fact that fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and natural gas will be depleted in near future encourages researchers to make investigations on alternative energy resources. Wind energy, which is one of the most used alternative resources, has a great potential. In this study, Weibull parameters at İncek region of Ankara (the capital city of Turkey), where Atılım University campus is located, were determined for four different seasons and for twelve months in order to accomplish wind speed characterization at the region. Wind speed data at 20 m and 30 m heights were collected from a measurement station installed at Atılım University campus area. The data were taken as 1 min average values for a one year period between June 2012 and June 2013. Hourly average wind speed values for each height were derived using the collected wind data. Weibull parameters were calculated with five different methods using the derived hourly average wind speed values. According to root mean square error analyses, the best methods for which Weibull distribution fits the actual wind data were determined as power density and empirical methods. The power and energy density values for the region were also calculated for each season and each month. It was revealed that the maximum power density is encountered in March with about 98 (W/m²). Since this power density indicates that large scale wind turbine use is not a good option at the region, the performances of three different small scale wind turbines were evaluated. According to the results, two of the investigated wind turbines were found to be capable to generate all yearly energy need of an average household in Turkey