Economic feasibility of wind farm using low wind speed turbine

One of the renewable energy technologies is the wind power technology abundantly used in countries located at high wind speeds. However, most rural areas of developing countries have low wind speeds. Moreover, low wind speed turbine (LWST) has been developed to reduce cost which is currently higher than high wind speed turbine (HWST). Therefore, economic feasibility of wind farm using the LWST is evaluated and compared with the HWST. East coasts of southern Thailand classified as class 2 (5.6-6.4 m/s at 50 m height) are chosen to be the case study areas. It is found that if LWST can be developed into rated wind speed below 9.4 m/s, it will be possible worthwhile financial installation. In addition, the capital cost of LWST can be higher than HWST, and government can reduce ROC of wind farm installed with LWST.