Open Access Peer-reviewed Research Article

Technical and economic prospect of wind energy at Lapaha, Tonga

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Daily and mean TI at 50 m a.g.l at Lapaha site
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Submitted   Feb 20, 2020
Published   Apr 15, 2020
Issue    Vol 2 No 1 (2020)
DOI   10.25082/REE.2020.01.005

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Ajal Kumar
School of Engineering and Physics, University of the South Pacific, Laucala Campus, Suva, Fiji
Sione Lui Tausinga corresponding author
School of Engineering and Physics, University of the South Pacific, Laucala Campus, Suva, Fiji
Kaushal Kishore
School of Engineering and Physics, University of the South Pacific, Laucala Campus, Suva, Fiji
Krishnam Nair
School of Engineering and Physics, University of the South Pacific, Laucala Campus, Suva, Fiji
Dinesh Rao
School of Computing and Mathematics, University of the South Pacific, Laucala Campus, Suva, Fiji

Abstract

The wind at 50 m above ground level (a.g.l) was measured for 22 months. The mean wind speed predicted by Wind Atlas Analysis and Application Program (WAsP) at Lapaha was 6.39 m/s and the power density were 279 W/m2. The prevailing wind direction at Lapaha site was East and Southeast direction with a low turbulence. The WAsP wind map indicated that Lapaha has a good wind potential for power production. A wind farm consisting of four Vergnet 275 kW wind turbines at Lapaha site is expected to pay itself back in 9 years with a Benefit to Cost Ratio (BCR) of 1.74, a Levelized Cost of Energy (LCoE) in Tongan Pa’anga (TOP) of 0.10/kWh compared to TOP 0.86/kWh presently charged to domestic consumers. The expected internal rate of return (IRR) would be 50% and with a life time of 25 years. The expected cost saved from the wind farm is TOP 1.3 million per year, which is equivalent to 1.3 million liters of diesel saved, resulting in 535 tons less CO2 emitted annually. The proposed wind farm is expected to decrease diesel consumption by 20% annually.

Keywords
wind energy, WAsP, Weibull PDF, Rayleigh PDF, wind farm, Lapaha, Tonga

Article Details

Supporting Agencies
Tonga Energy Department Ministry of MEIDECCC
How to Cite
Kumar, A., Tausinga, S., Kishore, K., Nair, K., & Rao, D. (2020). Technical and economic prospect of wind energy at Lapaha, Tonga. Resources and Environmental Economics, 2(1), 136-142. https://doi.org/10.25082/REE.2020.01.005
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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