Assessment of Wind Energy Potential in Sorowako Region, Indonesia

PT. Vale Indonesia has been operating in Sorowako region for more than 50 years and had developed three hydro electric power plants to support its operation as well as to provide electricity for local communities. As electricity demand is continuously increasing, new power sources are assessed for future development. The purposes of this study are to analyze wind characteristic in Sorowako region and to assess its utilization potential especially for power generation. Wind data are obtained from PT. Vale's weather stations installed in three different locations which record average wind speed within 10 minutes interval. Data were analyzed statistically to determine Weibull distribution function parameters and WAsP's Climate Analyst software is used for validation. The study result indicates that wind potential in Sorowako is very low and technically not suitable for wind power generation with current wind turbine technologies, despite It is located in the same province with Indonesia's first utility-scale wind power plant.