Masters Dissertations

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Browsing Masters Dissertations by Author "Cuinica, André Silvestre"

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    Wind energy resource assessment along the coast of Maputo region in Mozambique
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2013) Cuinica, André Silvestre
    In Mozambique almost 80% of the total 22 million people rely on woody biomass for their energy consumption. However firewood and charcoal burn inefficiently and are associated with indoor air pollution. Women and children are the most affected by this pollution as they are involved in cooking. Access to green power resource such as wind can play a key role for helping promoting economic growth, social equality and climate sustainability. The present research work aimed at assessing the wind energy resource in Mozambique, particularly along the coast of Maputo region. To fulfil this aim, mainly Weibull distribution and WAsP model were used to analyze one year wind data series at different heights in Costa do Sol and Ponta de Ouro. Required topographical maps were generated by application of different models and software. In Costa do Sol at 46 m height the annual mean wind speed (AMWS) was 6.54 m/s, dominant SW wind peaking in September at around 15:00 - 18:00 LT while the minimum occurs in April at around 00 - 06:00 LT. In Ponta de Ouro at 29 m the AMWS was 6.04 m/s, prevailing from NNE and SW, peaking in August at around 14:00 - 19:00 LT while the minimum occurs at around 02:00 - 09:00 LT. For both sites, about 80% of the time wind speeds are higher than 4 m/s. The gross annual energy production estimated from a Vestas V52-850 kW at 50 m ranges from 0.8 - 2.8 GWh in Costa do Sol and 1.3 - 4.1 GWh in Ponta de Ouro. Estimated capacity factor was 0.23 for Costa does Sol, which is close to reasonable and 0.32 for Ponta do Ouro, which is good. In general, the sites behave from marginal to fair wind power class. Thus, wind energy systems for electricity generation can be developed at high heights and at low heights for water pumping applications.