Wind Energy Potential Assessment in Douala Airport, and Identification of Favorable Areas in Vicinity

This study aims to identify a favorable area for wind energy exploitation in the Littoral region of Cameroon. The study used data collected by the meteorological service at Douala International Airport. A probabilistic method based on the Weibull distribution with two parameters was used to assess the potential of the study area. Three methods were used to determine the parameters of this distribution: the maximum likelihood method, the WAsP method, and the energy pattern factor method. Statistical tests showed that the energy pattern factor method is more efficient, but the WAsP software provided acceptable results. The WAsP software was used to generate maps of the mean wind speed and wind power density at different heights. Two specific wind turbines were considered to calculate the annual energy production. The topography of the study area, the obstructions around the logger, and the roughness of the terrain were all taken into account when generating the maps for the different characteristics. Finally, maps at heights of 50 and 100 m were created using extrapolation techniques. Two zones with the highest power density were identified. In one of these locations, the wind power density could reach 54 W/m2 at a height of 100 m and the annual electrical output from a specific wind turbine could reach 1 GWh. The corresponding location is located at latitude 4.0661° North and longitude 9.8796° East.