Monthly and seasonal assessment of wind energy potential in coastal area of Bangladesh

Availability of sustainable and uninterruptable energy supply is one of the most important prerequisite for future development in a small as well as densely populated country like Bangladesh. In renewable energy sector, Bangladesh don´t have good prospect in fuel cell, geothermal, tidal or wave resources so wind energy is an influential one according with solar and biomass energy. In this study, wind characteristics and assessment of wind energy potential has been analyzed using the wind speed data measured during the period 2002–2011 at 10 m height of a port city (Mongla) and an isolated island (Sandwip), subjected to 2-parameter Weibull analysis. Based on these data, it was found that the monthly mean wind speed ranged from 3.50 m/s in June to 7.94 m/s in November, the monthly values of Weibull shape parameter (k), ranged from 3.09 to 6.26, while the value of scale parameter (c) ranged from 3.91 to 8.63 m/s and the monthly wind power density ranged from 33.08 to 352.43 W/m2. The seasonal mean wind speed data ranged from 3.61 to 7.56 m/s, while the wind power density was ranged from 36.62 to 328.59 W/m2 for summer and winter, respectively.