Vertical Extrapolation of Wind Speeds Under a Neutral Atmosphere and Evaluation of the Wind Energy Potential on Different Sites in Guinea

This study has been focused on the vertical profile determination of the winds under a neutral atmosphere in order to assess of the wind power density at three sites in Guinea. The power law has been used as an extrapolation model for wind speed. The Weibull function has been used to estimate the wind power density. The satellite data at 10 m above the ground recorded during the period from January 2001 to December 2015 on the sites of Conakry, Mamou and N’zérékoré sites were used. The results indicate that the Conakry site is the windiest of the three study sites with an average speed estimated at 2.83 m.s-1 at 10 m and 4.23 m.s-1 at 100 m above the ground. The form parameter k of Weibull varies from 1 to 1.8 and the scale parameter c from 1.5 to 6 m.s-1 and are both increasing functions of altitude. Finally, the quantities of energy obtained at the three sites reveal that only the Conakry site could be suitable for the installation of small wind turbines for the wind energy production. The average annual density is estimated at 45.77 W.m-2 at 10 m; 85.62 W.m-2 at 50 m and 113.31 W.m-2 at 100 m. On the Mamou and N’zérékoré sites, the pumping water from multi-blade wind turbines could be considered.