Monthly and Seasonal Assessment of Wind Energy Potential in Mechria Region, Occidental Highlands of Algeria

The aim of this paper is to investigate the monthly and seasonal variation of the wind characteristics in term of wind energy potential using the wind speed data collected between 2006 and 2010 from the meteorological station at Mechria region in western highlands of Algeria. In this paper, we first study the seasonal and monthly Weibull parameters and then proceed to the vertical extrapolation of Weibull parameters and mean wind speed at a height of 50 m. An analysis of annual energy efficiency (seasonal and monthly) was made using 600 kW wind machines from six manufacturers. Mechria, with an annual average wind speed of 5.2 m/s at 10 m above the ground level, may be a suitable candidate site for wind power generation—the highest monthly energy produced may be reached in April, the seasonal in Spring, and the best annual electric energy is produced by the Fuhrländer FL600 with a value of 3.2 Gwh/year. This study may provide information for developing wind energy in Algerian highland sites with an arid climate at the gate of Algerian desert, which has not been studied previously.