Wind Energy

Vergnet will build Algeria’s first wind farm

The wind farm in the south-western province of Adrar will generate 10 MW of wind power. The wind energy cost is estimated at 30 million euros.

Vergnet, France’s only manufacturer of wind turbines, has earned its place as the leader in mid-range wind-power generation on the FARWIND® market with its original technology of twin-bladed aerogenerators, which can be tilted down in less than one hour in the event of a cyclonic alert.

To this day, the Group has provided and installed over 500 aerogenerators throughout the world, generating over 150,000 MWh of eco-friendly electricity each year.

The windy regions are located at the west south of Algeria, in the Sahara. Statistical analysis of the data for 21 stations located at various topographic locations in Algeria have been carried out and the daily and yearly variations of wind speed have been established.

The Weibull parameters and power density of the stations have been determined using the hybrid Weibull distribution. Finally, wind speeds obtained in Algeria prove that it is interesting to set up some wind systems for agricultural applications.

The population of Algeria is about 32 millions with an area of 2.381.741 km2. More than eighty per cent of the country is desert. The installed power capacity of the country is about 7000 MW which is enough to meet the total power requirements. At present about 90 % of this power is met by gas and water vapour power and the rest is generated from hydro and diesel centrals.

Since Algeria is enriched with a high insolation level and ample wind regime, a considerable fraction of its energy requirements may be tapped from wind and solar energy. The use of the alternative sources of energy reduces combustion of fossil fuels and the consequents CO2 emission which represents, without doubt, the principal cause of the greenhouse-effect/global warning.

In Algeria, Wind energy utilization knew a considerable delay due to two main reasons. Firstly, fossil energy is available in the country. Secondly, a large proportion of electricity is generated by gas and water vapour turbines. Some attempts have been made to analyse the potential in Algeria.

www.vergnet.fr/

www.scipub.org/fulltext/ajes/ajes46589-594.pdf

www.afriwea.org/en/algeria.htm

www.sciencedirect.com/science

www.cder.dz/download/Art10-3_2.pdf