Renewable energy transition in sub-Saharan Africa: Opportunity for wind energy in Djibouti

Djibouti is an excellent example of a sub-Saharan African nation that struggles to provide the energy required for national demands and no doubt renewable energy has enormous potential here. Djibouti recently launched its first wind farm project in the Ghoubet location. It includes 17 turbines, each with a rating of 3.465 MW and a total capacity of 58.9 MW, directly employing large commercial-scale wind technology. However, due to the untested market and hostile conditions, Djibouti should initially adopt a phased approach to wind pilot projects, utilising wind turbines with smaller capacities, similar to those observed in Ethiopia and Kenya. This study selects two distinct wind turbine designs with smaller capacities—the Nordex N43/600 kW and the Fuhrlander FL MD77/1500 kW—in order to assess the technical and economic feasibility of a 6 MW wind pilot project at the Ghoubet location. Wind data from a meteorological station at the Ghoubet site, taken in 2004 at 10-min intervals, is used in this study. According to the findings, the Ghoubet site offers a suitable class 7 wind regime, with an average power density of 483.8 W/m 2 at a hub height of 10 m, 876.5 W/m 2 at 40 m, 964.1 W/m 2 at 50 m, and 1298 W/m 2 at 100 m, demonstrating that the Ghoubet site is a viable location with considerable wind resource potential suitable for a wind farm. It is observed that ten Nordex N43/600 kW wind turbines, with a capacity factor of 40.8%, can produce 21,462,398 kWh of power annually, while FL MD77/1500 kW due to its larger capacity (57%), produces an annual electricity of 29,596,728 kWh/year. The proposed two turbine types result in a levelized cost of energy ranging from 0.0223/kWh (N43) to 0.0240/kWh (FL MD77). When compared to other installations worldwide, this is highly competitive. Ultimately, it is possible that the wind pilot project will save 13,500 to 19,000 metric tonnes of CO 2 annually if it is implemented.