A critical analysis of wind energy generation potential in different regions of Bangladesh

With population expansion and economic progress in recent years, an upward trend of energy demand is observed not only in Bangladesh but also in many other countries. Renewable energy offers a lot of potential for sustainable growth in the energy sector of Bangladesh. Specially, wind energy is widely considered as one of the world's primary renewable energy sources because of its attractive features. This paper mainly investigates wind energy potential in Bangladesh to calculate the projection for electricity generation using different wind speed distribution models. This study also identifies the most accurate and practical method for estimating Weibull parameters in different regions of Bangladesh. Before installing a wind turbine generation system at a certain location, proper assessment of the wind power potential is crucial. A statistical study of wind speed data is necessary to determine its feasibility. Five-year real wind speed data at 50 m height is collected from fifty locations of Bangladesh with different topographical circumstances. This work has evaluated the results using the wind speed information available from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration meteorological site. A total of six methods are compared for calculating shape parameter (k), scale parameter (c), and k/c ratios. The most favorable annual mean wind speed is found at Sandwip, which is 4.89 m/s. The wind energy and power densities of the locations have been calculated using the Weibull distribution. The annual power density at Sandwip is found to be 88.59 W/m2 and energy density of 104.92 kWh/m2. The overall assessment demonstrates that among the six approaches, the power density method technique functioned best independent of the topographical circumstances. The energy pattern factor method technique exhibited the lowest performance indicators. Based on the data analysis and result findings, six different commercial wind turbine models are analyzed, and their performance specifications are compared. Finally, it is suggested that the Enercon E-40 and E-48 models are the most suitable for the selected site, Sandwip, with a capacity factor of 21.19% (1.11 GWh/ year) and 20.99% (1.47 GWh/year), respectively.