17. Site-Specific Design Optimization of Wind Turbines at Low Wind Speed Sites of North-East India

The utilization of the wind energy at a location primarily depends on the wind speed and right kind of machine installed at the site. The selection of machine for a site needs to be in such a way, so that maximum amount of energy can be effectively harnessed from the available wind spectrum. Wind speeds in the North-Eastern region of India are relatively low, highly fluctuating in directions, and localized in nature. The low wind speed creates difficulty to provide high starting torque to larger capacity machines with relatively higher rated wind speed. Thus, the region could be favorable to smaller machines having low cut-in and low rated wind speed. The present work aims to analyze the feasibility of installation of low capacity wind machines by estimating the capacity factors and annual energy generation at selected sites of the region. The low capacity machines can be used as an off-grid energy system to provide electricity access in the remote locations of the region.