Wind Energy Resource Assessment for Tokelau with Accurate Weibull Parameters

Wind energy resource assessment for two sites, Fakaofo and Atafu, in Tokelau is carried out with the help of a detailed statistical analysis of one year of measured wind data. The average wind speeds recorded for the sites were 3.81 m/s and 3.92 m/s for the Fakaofo and Atafu sites respectively at 34 m above ground level (AGL). The turbulence intensities (TI) for the two sites were also estimated. The wind shear coefficient correlated well with the temperature for both the sites. The best Weibull distribution method of approximation for the Fakaoko site was the WAsP method whereas it was the Empirical Method of Justus (EMJ) for the Atafu site from the 10 different methods that were used. The payback periods for installing the wind turbines were estimated to be 7.39 years and 7.85 years respectively for Fakaofo and Atafu.