Applications of wind power on the East coast of Saudi Arabia

Assessment of wind power on the east coast of Saudi Arabia has been made. A comparison between the wind and solar power shows that the mean attainable wind power is 70.6 W/m2, while the mean attainable solar power is 500 W/m2. However, the mean producible wind power is about 50 W/m2—using Cp = 0.42, while the mean producible solar power through photovoltaic cells is 90 W/m2 (using 18% efficiency). The availability of wind power in this area is 55% while the availability of solar power is 39%. The use of shrouded walls to improve the performance of WEC is feasible due to the narrow band wind direction, (280° to 30°).