Analysis of Offshore Wind Energy Potential for Power Generation in Three Selected Locations in Nigeria

Abstract

The rise in the global carbon footprint arising from fossil fuel sources has necessitated the need to explore sustainable and eco-friendly sources of energy. Wind as a source of renewable energy has been underutilized in Nigeria and this study is focused on investigating the wind energy potential in three offshore regions of Nigeria. Three statistical models namely, Weibull, Rayleigh and Exponential distribution were used to analyze the daily time series wind data for the offshore regions in Lagos (VI), Rivers (Abonemma) and Warri (Koko). This was done for a 10-year period between the year 2002–2011. The annual mean wind speeds for Lagos (VI), Rivers (Abonemma) and Warri (Koko) were determined to be 6.25, 7.32 and 7.29 m/s, respectively. The annual mean wind power densities were determined to be 171.47, 240.43 and 237.60 W/m2, respectively. The values of the wind speed carrying the maximum energy were determined to be 7.43, 8.37 and 8.96 m/s, respectively. It was found that the wind classes of the three locations are suitable for power generation.