Prospect of Wind Energy as a Resource for Water Pumping in Ngaoundere

Abstract

The modelling of wind energy conversion systems is of great importance if one intends to develop water pumping applications for a sustainable development. This study presents a technical assessment based on the measured wind data in which we investigate the possibility of coupling piston pump, roto-dynamic pump and electric pump with wind rotors for water pumping applications. Weibull distribution was used to model the monthly mean wind speed for a location in a rural area of Ngaoundere. It has been found that the Weibull distribution can be used to provide accurate estimation of the mean wind speed. The mean electric power and energy was computed based on the Vestas V25 and V100 power curves. Taking into account the wind regime characteristics of our site, we have provided the amount of water which can be expected from each type of wind pumps. From the results, it is clear that electric pump offers better performances than piston and rotodynamic pumps. Furthermore, if storage devices like batteries are combined to the system, water could be pumped at any time of the day independently of the wind availability. These systems could be very useful for people living in rural areas far from urban cities.