Wind energy surveying and technoeconomic assessment of identifiable WEC system installations

There are several areas with high wind energy potential in Greece. The Thrace region is one of the least explored areas concerning this wind potential. This paper presents the results of a preliminary evaluation of the Eastern Macedonia - Thrace/Greece wind energy resource. For this purpose, wind measurements from two local weather stations were obtained and a supplementary meteorological mast was installed at a selected location. The availability of such data was sufficient, and the WAsP model was used to evaluate them. Several potential sites, appropriate for wind energy conversion system (WECS) installations, were selected and investigated. A method of evaluating the economic feasibility of the required private investments on WECS installations is presented. Such privately owned generation systems may or may not operate in parallel with a large scale network, thus the energy produced by it is either provided to meet local load needs or transmitted to the external grid system. The paper also assesses non-financial attributes, typically associated with the implementation of WECS installations, such as local/national environmental and socio-economic impacts. A general computer program has been developed, aiming to become a flexible computational tool for investigating possible sites with wind potential. The program also takes into account the specific technoeconomical constraints pertaining to Greek reality by following the latest national development and energy laws applicable to the production by private entrepreneurs of electrical energy from renewable energy sources, which is sold to the Greek Public Power Corporation (P.P.C.). To make good use of the program, several potential sites and a case of a local industry in the geographical area of Thrace/Greece are thoroughly analyzed, and the pertinent results are presented. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.