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Africa >> Wind Wind Energy Potential
in AFRICA
Map of mean 80-m wind speeds for year 2000
Wind speeds are calculated at 80 m, the hub height of modern, 77-m diameter,
1500 kW turbines. Since relatively few observations are available at 80 m, the
Least Square extrapolation technique is utilized and revised here to obtain estimates
of wind speeds at 80 m given observed wind speeds at 10 m (widely available) and
a network of sounding stations. Tower data from the Kennedy Space Center
(Florida) were used to validate the results. Globally, ~13% of all reporting stations
experience annual mean wind speeds ≥ 6.9 m/s at 80 m (i.e., wind power class
3 or greater) and can therefore be considered suitable for low-cost wind power
generation. This estimate is believed to be conservative. Wind potential
in much of Africa is largely unassessed at this time. Egypt is the most advanced
country in harnessing wind energy, with over 15 MWe installed capacity. There
is undoubtedly much additional potential. http://www.stanford.edu/group/efmh/winds/global_winds.html
Wind Speeds at a Resolution of 50km
This wind map shows that the best winds in Africa are found in the norh of
the continent and to its extreme east, west and south. Considering that wind energy
technology will continue to improve, it would be appropriate to begin any efforts
to put in place a wind power deployment strategy with the African countries that
have the best wind resource. Based on the wind map and taking into account
certain aspects relating to the climatological and meteorological data, 15 African
countries can be identified as having the best wind resource in Africa:
Southern
Africa (South Africa, Lesotho, Madagascar and Mauritius); East Africa (Djibouti,
Eritrea, Seychelles and Somalia); North Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia);
West Africa (Cape Verde and Mauritania). This list will also include Chad, in
central Africa, whose wind power potential derives from its topgraphical features. http://www.afdb.org/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/ADB_ADMIN_PG/DOCUMENTS/
PRIVATE_SECTOR_ OPERATIONS/RENEABLE_ENERGY.PDF
CountriesAlgeria
| Angola | Burkina Faso | Benin | Botswana | Burundi | Cameroon | Cape Verde |
Central African Republic | Chad | Comoros | Congo | Côte d'Ivoire | Djibouti |
Equatorial Guinea | Eritrea | Ethiopia | Gabon | Gambia | Ghana
| Guinea | Guines-Bissau | Kenya | Lesotho | Liberia
| Lybia | Madagascar | Malawi | Mali | Mauritania | Mauritius | Morocco | Mozambique
| Namibia | Niger | Nigeria | Rwanda | São Tomé and Príncipe | Senegal | Seychelles
| Sierra Leone | Somalia | South Africa
| Sudan | Swaziland | Tanzania | Togo | Tunisia | Uganda | Zambia | Zimbabwe
Related GENI Resources Links
African Wind Energy Association
(AfriWEA)
Power
Africa Wind (PAW)
AFREC
(African Energy Commission) | 
