Feasibility study of distributed wind energy generation in Jumla Nepal

Renewable energy production needs serious attention in highly traditional, inefficient, and energy-dependent countries like Nepal. Moreover, the option of an effective renewable energy technology that is economically feasible and environmentally acceptable is a topic of interest due to the availability of various types of renewable energy sources in Nepal. Among other renewable energy sources like micro hydro, solar, biogas etc, very few studies had been conducted on wind energy sources in Nepal and those few studies also focuses mostly on large scale wind farming. So, this study analyzes the suitability of distributed wind energy production in Tila village of Jumla district in the western part of Nepal. Five-year (2015-2019) wind speed data were examined to obtain wind power density and energy density. Two-parameter Weibull probability density function was used to evaluate these two quantities. The annual Weibull parameters k and c of 1.73 and 4.21 m/s were obtained to calculate 43.79 W/m2 power density and 378.37 kWh/m² energy density. This study also provides the economic evaluation of a 100 kW distributed wind energy system, and the technical and economic aspects of the proposed system are compared with the corresponding characteristics of the existing renewable energy systems, i.e., micro hydropower and solar power. The study shows that when there is not enough sunlight for the solar PV system and not enough water flow coupled with maintenance problems in the micro hydropower system, the distributed wind energy system may function as a substitute system.