Preliminary design of a wind farm for the Mariel Special Development Zone (ZEDM)

Abstract

Throughout the world, strategies on the use of fossil fuels are changing and with that, taking firm steps towards the use of renewable energies in the production of electricity. Cuba is not out of this panorama, therefore, some projects are being developed in this sense. The general objective of this study was to evaluate the wind potential in the Mariel Special Development Zone (ZEDM), select the wind turbines and propose a layout or configuration of a wind farm for this zone, in order to favor the electricity demand of this place and thus, support the country's economy. In order to fulfill this objective, it was necessary to delimit some concepts on the subject in question as part of the theoretical framework of the research, such as: wind energy, origin, use and applications both at international level and in Cuba. Regarding the methodology, several methods were used to estimate the wind potential of the study area. Once the estimation of the wind resource in the area was done, the next stage included the selection of the wind turbines to be used, where five wind turbines were pre-selected as possible candidates to be installed at the site. Finally, a preliminary economic analysis was carried out to determine which of the proposals presented was the most feasible proposal for the implementation of a wind farm in the ZEDM. From the comparisons between the five pre-selected wind farms, it was found that the maximum AEP and capacity factor were achieved by the wind farm composed of GW 109-2500 wind turbines, but the best economic performance according to the values reached by other indicators was achieved by the wind farm composed of E 82-2300 wind turbines, thus achieving a wind farm composed of five Enercon E 82-2300 wind turbines with an investment recovery time of 6 years.