An investigation on wind power potential of Nurdagi-Gaziantep, Turkey

Turkey is one of the developing countries. The production of electricity in Turkey is basically focused on hydro-power and thermal-power. On the other hand, measurements show that Turkey has a reasonable wind potential but this potential was not being used for many years due to government policies which supported the use of petroleum, coal, and hydro power as energy sources. In recent years there is an increasing interest in using wind energy as one of the energy sources. This paper briefly introduces a study of the determination of wind power potential of Nurdaki/Gaziantep district where is on the south of Turkey for future wind power generation projects. Evaluation of wind data; taken by Turkish Electrical Power Resources Development Administration at the foot of the mountain, Nurdagi, shows that the district has a mean wind speed of 7.3 m/s at 10 m height and observed highest value wind speed is 23.3 m/s. Mean power density of the site is found as 222 W/m(2) and the results suggest that the site encourages investors especially since the terrain is a grassy plain on the side of the mountain and the measurements are taken at 10 m height. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.