Wind Project

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UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY

Electrical Generation Using Wind for Community Development in Ecuador

by

Julio Balden

Carlos Jcome

Juan Francisco Romero

Stephen C. Welty

A Masters Degree Project submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment of

the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Energy and Environment

Faculty of Graduate Studies

Quito, Ecuador

August, 2003


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Approval Page

CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION OF GROUP PROJECT

FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY/OLADE

MASTER OF SCIENCE DEGREE IN ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The undersigned certifies that she has read, and recommends to the Faculty of Graduate Studies

for acceptance, the Group Project Report entitled Electrical Generation Using Wind for

Community Development in Ecuador submitted by Julio Balden, Carlos Jcome, Juan

Francisco Romero, and Stephen C. Welty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree

of Master of Science in Energy and the Environment.

____________________________ ____________________________

Supervisor: Dr. Julie Rowney Date


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ABSTRACT

This project introduces an alternative for a marginalized community in the north of Ecudor to face

its economic problems. The district of Mira has suffered a prolongued drought for years. Thus,

agriculture, the regions main economic activity, has decreased significantly. Unemployment,

poverty and migration are consequences.

Based on the availability of wind resource in the region and the applicable legal framework, this

project assesses the technical and economical feassibility of generating electricity at large scale for

the Ecuadorian wholesale market. A community based cooperative could share the revenues with

an interested investor. The cooperative could either use directly generated electricity for pumping,

or use the economic gains to invest in an irrigation program. Additionally, the project analyses the

convenience of different funding options and participation schemes for implementation, including

CDMs and public-private partnerships. It was found that a 14.4 MW wind farm is feasible under

the mentioned premises.


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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We appreciate the support of our families; without it, this project would have not been possible.

We acknowledge also to Dr. July Rowney and Norm Althouse because their teachings on Team

Building were essential for the success of this project.

Our special recognition is also for the Mayor of the District of Mira, Mr. Fausto Ruiz, for his

cooperation with the project; and for Eng. Ernesto Clavijo, Public Works Director of the District,

because of the information he contributed with.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Approval Page ____________________________________________________________ii

Abstract ________________________________________________________________ iiiAcknowledgments ________________________________________________________ iv

Table of Contents _________________________________________________________v

List of Tables____________________________________________________________ ix

List of Figures____________________________________________________________x

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION __________________________________________1

1.1 Problem Identification and Importance of the Project_____________________2

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY __________________________________________5

CHAPTER 3: PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION & SOCIAL ANALYSIS___________7

3.1 General Information _______________________________________________7

3.2 Social and Economic Analysis _______________________________________8

3.3 Description of the Basic Services in the Areas that have Wind Potential____12

3.4 Current Problems in the District of Mira______________________________13

3.4.1 Poverty _____________________________________________________13

3.4.2 Drought and Lack of Irrigation Programs ____________________________143.4.3 Emigration___________________________________________________15

3.4.4 Municipality Problems __________________________________________16

3.5 Possible Positive and Negative Impacts ______________________________16

3.5.1 Economic Gain and Local Employment______________________________16

3.5.2 Development of Irrigation Program_________________________________18

3.6 Additional Information ____________________________________________19

3.6.1 Electricity service ______________________________________________19

3.6.2 Water Service ________________________________________________19

3.7 Community Participation in the Electricity Program_____________________193.7.1 A Cooperative Based Association _________________________________19

3.7.2 The Municipality_______________________________________________20

3.7.3 Expanding Capital Markets ______________________________________21

3.8 Summary of Social Feasibility Analysis _______________________________21

CHAPTER 4: TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY STUDY AND SITE SELECTION ____23

4.1 Wind Energy Basics ______________________________________________24


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4.1.1 Wind Power Density ___________________________________________24

4.1.2 Air Density___________________________________________________24

4.1.3 Wind Velocity ________________________________________________24

4.1.4 Surface Roughness_____________________________________________25

4.1.5 Weibull Distribution ____________________________________________26

4.1.6 Betz Law ___________________________________________________274.1.7 Power Density Function_________________________________________27

4.2 Wind Turbines___________________________________________________28

4.2.1 Power Curves ________________________________________________28

4.2.2 Annual Energy output of a wind turbine______________________________29

4.2.3 Wind Turbine Types____________________________________________30

4.2.4 Wind Turbine Components_______________________________________30

4.2.5 Size of Wind Turbines __________________________________________31

4.3 Wind Prospecting & Site Selection __________________________________32

4.3.1 Macro Siting Considerations______________________________________324.3.2 Micro Siting Considerations ______________________________________34

4.3.3 Wind Potential Assessment_______________________________________34

4.3.4 Measurement Equipment ________________________________________36

4.4 Site of the Project and Review of Available Data _______________________37

4.5 Preliminary Wind farm Design______________________________________40

4.6 Calculation of the energy production_________________________________42

CHAPTER 5: ECONOMIC EVALUATION ________________________________45

5.1 Optimization of Capacity and Cost___________________________________45

5.2 Breakdown Costs into Major Project Activities ________________________46

5.2.1 Feasibility Phase Costs__________________________________________46

5.2.2 Construction Phase Costs________________________________________46

5.2.3 Operation and Maintenance Costs _________________________________48

5.3 Determination of the Unitary Cost of Electricity________________________49

5.3.1 Determining the Annualized Cost of Electricity ACE ____________________49

5.3.2 Determining the Annual Electricity Production AEP_____________________50

5.4 Determination of the Profits ________________________________________51

5.5 Sensitivity Analysis_______________________________________________515.5.1 Interest Rate _________________________________________________51

5.5.2 CDM_______________________________________________________51

5.5.3 Wind farm Arrangement_________________________________________52

5.5.4 Cost of each kW Installed._______________________________________52

CHAPTER 6: PRELIMINARY DISCUSSION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS54

6.1 Spatial and Temporal Boundaries ___________________________________54


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6.2 Issues of Concern ________________________________________________55

6.2.1 Visual Impact_________________________________________________55

6.2.2 Noise pollution________________________________________________56

6.2.3 Bird strike ___________________________________________________57

6.2.4 Construction impacts ___________________________________________58

6.2.5 Electric and Magnetic Fields (EMF) ________________________________586.2.6 Access roads_________________________________________________59

6.2.7 Cumulative Effects _____________________________________________59

6.2.8 Positive impacts_______________________________________________59

6.3 Description of the Environment _____________________________________60

CHAPTER 7: LEGAL FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS ___________________________62

7.1 Legislation for Renewable Energy___________________________________62

7.2 Construction and Operation Permits _________________________________64

7.3 The Concession Contract __________________________________________64

7.4 Land Leasing Contract ____________________________________________65

7.5 Environmental protection__________________________________________65

7.5.1 Chapter I General _____________________________________________66

7.5.2 Chapter II Environmental Administrative Responsibilities for the Electrical Sector66

7.5.3 Chapter III Environmental Protection _______________________________67

7.5.4 Chapter IV Instruments for Environmental Control _____________________67

7.5.5 Chapter V Environmental procedures and Requirements to Obtain Concessions,

Permits or Licenses ____________________________________________________67

7.6 Brief Overview of Private Enterprise Laws____________________________687.6.1 General _____________________________________________________68

7.6.2 Specific to the Community _______________________________________69

CHAPTER 8: FINANCING MECHANISMS AND IMPLEMENTATION

SCHEMES 70

8.1 Private Funding and Implementation_________________________________71

8.2 Public/Private Partnerships_________________________________________72

8.2.1 Transfer of Plant vs. Transfer of Ownership in BOOT schemes____________73

8.2.2 The BOOT Consortium _________________________________________74

8.2.3 Requirements for the successful packaging of a BOOT project ____________748.2.4 Allocation of Risks_____________________________________________75

8.3 Public Funding and Implementation__________________________________77

8.4 Agencies, Institutions and Companies________________________________77

8.4.1 Government Agencies __________________________________________78

8.4.2 Lending Banks________________________________________________78

8.4.3 Investors ____________________________________________________80


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8.4.4 Constructors/Suppliers (Wind Energy Companies) _____________________80

8.4.5 Bi-Lateral and Multi-Lateral Agencies ______________________________82

8.5 Economic Instruments for Sustainable Development ____________________83

8.5.1 Clean Development Mechanism___________________________________83

8.5.2 Small and Medium Scale Enterprise Program (SME) ___________________86

CHAPTER 9: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ________________87

9.1 Social Aspects ___________________________________________________87

9.2 Technical Feasibility ______________________________________________88

9.3 Financing and Economics __________________________________________90

9.4 Environmental Impacts ____________________________________________91

CHAPTER 10: REFERENCES __________________________________________93


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List of Tables

Table 3.1 Educational Level in Mira......................................................................................... 8

Table 3.2: Age Distribution of the active economic population. ................................................. 8

Table 3.3: Main Economic Activities of Miras citizens ............................................................. 9

Table 3.4: Migration of Miras citizens................................................................................... 15

Table 3.5. Job generation for the Zafarana wind project. ........................................................ 17

Table 4.1: Roughness Class and Roughness Length (m) for different landscape types.............. 26

Table 4.2: Wind Distribution.................................................................................................. 38

Table 4.3: Approximate Weibull distribution parameters derived from the .............................. 39

Table 4.4: Selected turbines specifications ............................................................................ 43

Table 4.5: Results of the WTPC for a single NEG MICON 600/48 working at the site........... 43

Table 4.6: Main Features of the wind farm according to the preliminary design........................ 44

Table 5.1: Investment required in the Feasibility Phase............................................................ 46

Table 5.2: Investment required in the Construction Phase ....................................................... 48

Table 5.3: Operational and maintenance costs........................................................................ 48

Table 5.4: UCE, IRR and payback periods working with different interests rates. ................... 52

Table 5.5: Economic indexes varying the number of turbines of 600 kW................................. 52

Table 5.6: Economic indexes considering no sales of CRES varying the Cost of kW installed.. 53

Table 5.7: Economic indexes considering purchase of CRES varying the Cost of kW installed.53

Table 6.1: Noise levels for different activities.......................................................................... 57

Table 6.2: Principal Native Species of Flora........................................................................... 60

Table 6.3: Principal native fauna species................................................................................. 61

Table 7.1: Current Environmental Regulations in Ecuador....................................................... 67

Table 8.1: BOOT Project risks divided into stages................................................................ 76

Table 8.2: World Bank Programs for Sustainable Energy. ...................................................... 78

Table 8.3: Firms involved in the Wind Energy Industry........................................................... 81

Table 8.4: GEF and World Bank Investment in Renewable Energy......................................... 83


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List of Figures

Figure 3-1: Location of the district of Mira............................................................................... 7

Figure 3-2: Agriculture activities of the Concepcins citizens. ................................................ 10

Figure 4-1: Typical Weibull distribution with mean velocity of 7 m/s........................................ 26

Figure 4-2: Power Density of the Weibull Distribution in Figure 4-1 ....................................... 28

Figure 4-3: Power curve for a typical Danish 600 kw wind turbine. ........................................ 28

Figure 4-4: Most favorable wind resource areas in Dominican Republic.................................. 33

Figure 4-5: Example of a Wind Rose..................................................................................... 36

Figure 4-6: Approximate Weibull Distribution for Site #50..................................................... 40

Figure 4-7: Power Curve for the selected NEG MICON 600/48 turbine................................ 43

Figure 6.1: Location of the project Area, near to Mira Town.................................................. 54

Figure 6.2: Probable Location for the Wind Farm................................................................. 56

Figure 8-1: Typical BOOT Consortium................................................................................. 74


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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Poverty is a major problem both for society as a whole and for the environment that society

depends upon, but in order to alleviate poverty, clear plans and mechanisms must be developed

such as opening different sectors of the economy so that marginalized communities can participate.

It may be possible to integrate the rural poor or marginalized communities into the electrical

generation sector using wind energy from wind farms and otherwise unproductive land.

To evaluate the feasibility for such a plan, a community in the Andean highlands of Ecuador

has been chosen. The results of this project may lead to a conclusion that the best way to

proceed on the project is the No Action option due to technical, social, legal or economic

factors. In order to reduce the risk of having such a conclusion, a number of measures have been

taken at the onset of the project and they include:

Selection of community based on cohesiveness and self help attitude,

Selection of an area close to meteorological stations with some wind data,

Selection of the site with an annual average of at least 5 m/s at 10m.

The reasons for selecting the first two constraints are obvious and will be referred to

throughout the paper. The third reason is based on information that projects the cost of electricity

at sites with 5 m/s at a height of 10 meters to be on the order of US$0.04/kWh (Cavallo et. al,

1993), which from early evaluations seems to be a competitive price for energy in Ecuador

especially considering that non-conventional energy sources are given preference in the law and

have a guaranteed price of 10.05 cents per kWh.

The area chosen is the district of Mira located in the northern mountainous region of Ecuador.

The district is the newest canton in the province of Carchi, it was founded in 1980. The district

consists of one urban parish and three rural parishes Juan Montalvo, Jijn y Camao and

Concepcin. The last one is a community of black people. Studies of the current organization of

the communities and legal constitution are required. In addition, a Local Development Plan would

be useful but according to the Mayor of the district and the Association of Ecuadorian


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Municipalities, that document will be prepared this year and is not available for this work. This

plan will provide information on the programs that will be implemented in the district in order to

improve the quality of life of the citizens.

The district, led by its Mayor, has worked with some NGOs to deal with irrigation programs

in order to deal with the draught problem of the zone. In April, 2002 the municipality and 14

others undertook a program called 3D (Decentralization- Democracy Development) with ARD,

a NGO that works together with national and international consultants to comply with the USAID

requirements in Ecuador. This program seeks to strengthen the municipality and public

participation (Municipality of Mira, 2002).

There are 12,919 people living in the district; 2890 live in the urban area while about 10,029

live in the rural area (INEC, 2002). The main economic activity of the people in the district is

agriculture; however, draught, dollarization and the Plan Colombia have limited the activity. There

are no industries in the district and due to this, some people, especially young people, had to

emigrate to other provinces and countries (INEC, 2003). The professional people from the region

study in other cities but they usually do not go back to work in the district due to the lack of

opportunities (Clavijo, 2003).

Wind Energy is a relatively new economic activity in Ecuador. There are plans to build a of 10.8

MW wind farm in Salinas, in the province or Imbabura. The feasibility studies from this project

have finished and currently the project sponsors are looking for financing (Electroviento, 2002).

Although, there is no development of non-traditional renewables, CONELEC has a policy of

purchasing renewable energy (not including large scale hydropower) at higher rates and

guaranteeing a market for such energy provided a reasonable cost of electricity can be achieved

(CONELEC, 2002).

1.1 Problem Identification and Importance of the Project

The existence of an unused wind resource, and the presence of barren lands that surround

communities, which traditionally were dedicated to agriculture, is the reality of the district of Mira.

This results in lost opportunities to generate income so community members have emigrated within


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the country and abroad trying to improve their well being and strive to pull themselves out of their

poverty.

The project has as its objective to take advantage of the wind resource and build a wind

farm according to the results of the technical, economic, financial and legal feasibility analyses. The

use of wind energy based on its sustainability to produce electricity has increased drastically in the

last years due to its competitive prices. According to Renewable Energy World (Jul- Aug 2002)

there is even a goal that aims to generate 12% of the worlds electricity in the year 2020 from

wind energy.

Based on international and national experiences it is proposed to generate electricity using

wind for the development of the community. A good illustration of wind generation for community

development in Ecuador is what is happening in the Province of Loja, which is working in the

feasibility phase of a project for electricity generation using wind energy to pump water for

irrigation purposes. This program started as an initiative to deal with the draught problem of the

region that caused the citizens of Loja to emigrate but it was determined that the best alternative

was to provide electricity for water pumping and other uses. The site conditions indicate that the

best alternative for electricity generation is using wind energy. It is clear that the problems in the

district of Mira have some similarities with the problems in Loja; however, the conditions in terms

of government organization and administration resources are different.

This project will deal with different funding agencies and wind energy enterprises possibly

interested in investing in a wind farm. One possibility is to use a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT)

contract so that after the turn over period, a legal enterprise made of community members could

manage the company. By doing this, barren lands will have a good use and the rate of

unemployment and emigration may decrease for the citizens of Mira.

Due to the fact that community members could work in the management and O&M of the

legal electricity enterprise and that they will manage a service that allows them to be more

productive and provide more opportunities to work inside their community, migration,

unemployment and poverty will decrease. As a note, according to UN studies the rate of poverty


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for Ecuadorians in 2002 was 60% in spite of the rate of unemployment and underemployment

decreasing to 8.7% and 32.5% respectively according to INEC.

The project incorporates different fields covered in the master program courses resulting in

a truly multidisciplinary work. Technical background is useful to determine a proper design that

can tap the resource potential to generate electricity but this must be inside the selling capacity

framework according to the Ecuadorian legislation. Preliminary Environmental studies have

considered possible impacts produced by the construction and operation of the project.

An economic analysis is required so not only investors but also funding agencies will be

interested in investing in the project. CDMs will be analyzed as a complement to other funding due

to the CO2 emissions offset by the use of a renewable energy.


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CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

This project has been broken down into six parts including: Problem Identification and Social

Feasibility Analysis, Technical Feasibility Analysis, Environmental Impacts, Legal Analysis,

Funding Mechanisms, and Economic Evaluation. There is really no good sequential order that

these parts can be done in due to the interaction between them. For example, the legal

framework may put limits on the size of the wind farm or the Funding Mechanisms will only

contemplate funding a project larger than a certain size. For this reason, the different sections

were completed by a team in tandem to offer timely feedback in the elaboration of the other

sections.

The Problem Identification and Social Analysis were done based on data from earlier census

from the INEC and conversations with the district mayor and other people in the area. The

demographic situation was analyzed as well as the social and economic situation of the area. The

current status of cooperatives in the area were also reviewed to understand how they are

organized and if it would be possible to use such a system with the wind park project.

The Technical Feasibility Analysis was done based on the international literature. It is difficult

to do the technical analysis before knowing the size constraints of the project, which require inputs

from the Legal Analysis, the Funding Mechanism survey and the economic evaluation. For this

reason the outcome of the technical feasibility analysis was to develop parameters which could be

used to optimize the wind farm design using constraints from the other sections. Typically, when

an electrical generation station is designed, a demand analysis must also be carried out to

determine the market. This is not necessary for the current project since the idea is to build a base

load plant from which all of the generated energy will be purchased by the state transmission

company. However, other issues such as substation distance and capacity are also considered in

this section for connecting to the electricity grid.

The economic evaluation is closely tied with the technical analysis and is an important input

for the funding mechanisms section. The project will be analyzed from a number of different

perspectives including return on investment (ROI), present value (PV), and pay back period


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(PBP). A unified cost of electricity (UCE) is calculated based on the initial cost, the cost of

capital (interest rate), and the operation and maintenance costs. This UCE will then be compared

to both the regular price paid by the state transmission company for energy and any preferential

price that the state may pay for renewable energies. The technical analysis will determine the life

of the wind farm for calculating economic gains that can be achieved after the project is paid off.

The environmental impacts are roughly the same independent of the size of turbines or the

extent of the wind farm. The only factor that changes in the environmental impact with a changing

scale is the magnitude of impact. Since the environmental impact section is not meant to be a

complete site specific EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) only a broad overview is given of

the potential impacts.

The Legal Analysis comprises a broad overview of the legal framework in Ecuador. This

analysis includes a review of the Electric Sector Laws, company laws, cooperative laws as well as

other bodies of law. The objective of this section is to determine the actors that are legally

permitted to own and operate an electrical generation station in the country as well as to determine

any preferential treatment for renewable energy.

The Funding Mechanism section was done to evaluate the financial arena with respect to wind

farms in developing countries. The idea of private implementation was considered as well as

public implementation. A number of different contractual types were analyzed for Private/Public

Partnerships as well. The goal of this section was to have an idea of how best to fund such a

development and identify some agencies, institutions or companies that could be used to carry out

the project.


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CHAPTER 3: PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION & SOCIAL

ANALYSIS

3.1 General Information

The district of Mira is located in the North of Ecuador and belongs to the Province of Carchi

which is a Mountain Province that borders with Colombia. Figure 3.1 shows the location of the

district of Mira in the province of Carchi. Mira is the newest district in the Province. It was

founded in 1980 because of the growing agricultural, commerce, and urban development in the

area. Mira is located between 2200 2500 meters above the sea level (masl) (Clavijo, 2003). It

has an area of 587,8 square kilometers. According to the last population and housing survey

performed by INEC in November 2001 there are 12,919 people in the district. Of these 2,890

live in the urban area while 10,029 people live in the rural areas. The population density is 22

people/ km. The male index, which is the ratio of males to females , is 101.8.

The district has three rural parishes: Juan Montalvo, Concepcin and Jijn y Camao.

According to the district Mayor, Mr. Fausto Ruiz, there are three parishes with a good deal of

wind resource: El Hato milk and cheese producers, Pisquer and El Mirador. Additionally, he said

that the wind blows from east to west in winter and in the summer it blows in the other direction,

that is from west to east. The months when the wind is at its maximum velocity are April and

August. Mira does not have natural areas nor protected reserves.

Figure 3-1: Location of the district of Mira.

Source: Ecuadorian Maps


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3.2 Social and Economic Analysis

The educational level, which is defined as the average number of approved school years by

the population older than 10 years old, is 5.4 in the district of Mira. The level of illiteracy in the

district is 8.12 %, 3.85 % in the urban area and 9.4 % in the rural area (INEC, 2003). Table 3.1

shows the educational level of the citizens of Mira. The district has schools in urban and rural

areas. Two high schools are located in the urban area. Once students finish high school and decide

to go on to higher education, they usually go to universities located in Ibarra or Tulcan.

Table 3.1 Educational Level in Mira

Not declared 714 6.2%

University 531 4.6%Secondary School 2508 21.7%

Primary School 6806 58.8%

Literacy 68 0.6%

Illiteracy 938 8.1%Source:INEC, 2003

The Table shows that there are professionals from the district; however, due to the lack of

opportunities of employment in the region most of them do not work there. They prefer to

emigrate to other cities and to other countries (Clavijo, 2003).

The active economic population consists of 4,925 people divided in 3,519 working in the

primary sector, 398 in the secondary sector, 855 in the tertiary sector, while 146 are not

identified and 7 are new workers (INEC, July 2002). The total number of houses is 4,055.

Table3.2 shows the age distribution of the active economic population by area.

Table 3.2: Age Distribution of the active economic population.

Age Group Area

[years] Urban Rural Total

From 5 to 9 13 13From 10 to 14 5 247 252

From 15 to 19 49 511 560

From 20 to 24 107 436 543

From 25 to 29 105 381 486

From 30 to 34 75 360 435

From 35 to 39 123 296 419


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From 40 to 44 140 274 414

Age Group Area

[years] Urban Rural Total

From 45 to 49 96 258 354From 50 to 54 88 245 333

From 55 to 59 69 214 283

From 60 to 64 46 192 238

From 65 to 69 41 173 214

From 70 to 74 34 129 163

From 75 to 79 22 87 109

From 80 to 84 9 42 51

From 85 to 89 9 24 33

From 90 to 94 9 9

Above 95 3 13 16

Total 1021 3904 4925

Source: INEC, 2003

Table 3.3 shows the main economic activities that the citizens of Mira are dedicated to. As

can be seen in the table, the most important activity is agriculture. The active economic population

refers to the people from the district that work in certain areas without necessarily working in the

same place. According to the mayor of Mira, 95% of the population work in agriculture while the

others are dedicated to hand weaving and sell their products in the market in Otavalo each

Saturday. He also mentioned that there is no industry in the district; therefore the job opportunities

are limited to agriculture, commerce and handicrafts.

Table 3.3: Main Economic Activities of Miras citizens

Economic Activity Area

Urban Rural Total

Agriculture, cattle, hunting 371 3098 3469

Forestry, timber 2 35 37

Fishing 1 1

Oil, Natural gas, coal 7 7

Mining pitting 1 4 5

Beverage and Food Processing 10 52 62

Textiles Production 9 110 119

Tanning and clothing 23 19 42

Wood processing 7 14 21


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Construction 47 72 119

Wholesale Commerce 1 5 6

Retail Commerce 70 83 153

Transportation 67 29 96Economic Activity Area

Urban Rural Total

Informatics and communications 1 3 4

Public Administration, National defense 63 36 99

Teaching 163 51 214

International Organizations 75 71 146

Others 236 82 318

Source:INEC, 2003

Among the common products harvested in Mira are corn, beans (kidney bean, pea), oat,

wheat, barley, tomatoes, peach, grape, plums and sugar cane and the kind of products depends

on the parish. People from El Hato and Juan Montalvo communities are milk producers and cattle

breeders.

The district has multicultural variety and that can be seen in the activities performed by each

of these groups. For instance, citizens from Jacinto Jijon y Camao and Juan Montalvo are half-

caste and are dedicated to agriculture and cattle raising (breeding), while citizens from La

Concepcin are black people dedicated to growing tomatoes, beans, plums and sugar cane.

Figure 3.2 shows women from La Concepcin dedicated to classifying and selling tomatoes.

Figure 3-2: Agriculture activities of the Concepcins citizens.

In El Hato, which is considered as an area that has wind resource potential, a great deal of

eucalyptus trees are present. People that live along the road make fired bricks using the local


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eucalyptus as firewood in their furnaces. There is a clear sign of deforestation in the area. In

addition, there is corn, wheat, blackberries crops, and cows. In El Hato there is a small cheese

factory called Quesinor, that produces 120-130 cheeses per day using 450 litres of milk per day.

Quesinor clusters 13 milk producers along the highlands. They are trained by technicians from the

Belgium Commission, who supported the Quesinor Project with technical background, to produce

different kinds of cheeses. The cheeses are sold in delicatessens in big cities. The plant operates

under a cooperative arrangement and has 25 members (6 de Julio Co-operative). According to

Miguel Leon, a Plant worker, there are 4 workers in the plant. There are about 40 milk suppliers

that belong to the region who used to sell milk at very low prices to the intermediaries and they

had to do so otherwise the milk spoiled. Nowadays, they sell the milk to the plant and receive a

fair price. He agreed that the sector had a substantial wind resource. The shape of the trees

provide evidence of strong winds in the region.

The Cooperative El Hato includes families from the region, approximately 120. This

cooperative is led by a President, Manuel Castro, who is responsible for coordinating the

meetings. The cooperative members are accustomed to having frequent meetings in order to

discuss the communities necessities. The most common problems identified are a lack of water

for irrigation purposes, migration, lack of industrial development and job opportunities. There are

no programs to preserve the crops that they grow nor to process these products and give them an

added value. The citizens also complain that the technical support that they get comes from

international organizations such as the Belgium Commission rather than national institutions.

For the wind electricity generation program there is the possibility that the community will be

involved in part of the program. They could have the opportunity of acquiring some shares of the

project, which could be real if there is a contract that stipulates share benefits for land possession,

for instance. As it can be seen in the case of El Hato, its members have experience in dealing with

community organization; however, more technical background is required, which could be


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obtained from training from a multinational company or from those that are citizens of Mira and

have a university education but have had to emigrate because of the lack of opportunities.

3.3 Description of the Basic Services in the Areas that have Wind

Potential

As mentioned before, there are three different places in Mira that have a substantial wind

resource; therefore, it is useful to mention the current conditions, in terms of basic services, of the

people that live in these places.

El Hato.- It has 392 people, 151 of them work. There are 101 homes divided in 91

houses, 1 room, 1 department, and 8 makeshift structures. All of the housing has electricity

service, 99 do not have telephone service, 84 have public sewer service, 89 get water from public

service, and the rest get it from a brook. The garbage collection system only provides its service

to 19 homes, 5 families incinerate it and the rest throw it into a gorge or empty terrain (INEC,

2003).

Pisguer.- It has a population of 218, 89 of them work. There are 31 homes divided in 23

houses, 3 rooms, 4 makeshift structures, and 1 hut. Six of the homes do not have electricity

service, 31 do not have telephone service and 3 have public sewer service. Seventeen homes get

water from public service while 4 get water from a well and the rest from a brook. The garbage

collection system does not provide its service to this sector, 31 families incinerate it and the rest

throw it into a gorge or an empty terrain (INEC, 2003).

El Mirador.- It has a population of 363, 145 of them work. There are 110 houses divided

into 93 homes, 1 room, and 16 makeshift structures. Three homes do not have electricity service,

108 do not have telephone service and 33 have public sewer service. From all the houses, 108

homes get water from public service while only 1 gets it from a well and the rest from a brook.


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The garbage collection system provide its service to 31 homes, 7 families incinerate it and the rest

throw it into a gorge or an empty terrain (INEC, 2003).

3.4 Current Problems in the District of Mira

There are numerous difficulties that the district faces and they can be summarized as

poverty, emigration, drought and lack of good irrigation programs, lack of job opportunities in the

area, and a centralized government system that does not promote the development of

infrastructure.

3.4.1 Poverty

Seventy eight percent of the population of Mira is considered to live in poverty and 19.5%

of its citizens live in extreme poverty (Larrea, 1996). There are several reasons why people live in

poverty and one of them can be said to be the lack of industrial infrastructure in the region.

According to the town Mayor, Fausto Ruiz (2003), there is no industry in the district; therefore

the job opportunities are limited. In addition, the main economic activity, agriculture, has

decreased due to the period of drought that the region has and is facing. This has limited the

agricultural potential of the zone. Furthermore, the economic situation of the country has intensified

the problem, because Miras farmers used to export their products to Colombia. When Ecuador

started the process of dollarization, the cost of crops that were sold in Colombia became more

expensive making the business unattractive for Colombians. Another cause that worsened Miras

economic situation was the Plan Colombia, as there was more control on commerce and it was

limited to certain hours in the day making the transportation costs more expensive; therefore, the

prices for the Colombian consumer of Ecuadorian products increased (Clavijo, 2003).

As a consequence of poverty, children from rural areas withdraw from school in order to

help their parents in their agricultural activities. Children do that because their older brothers have

migrated to other cities looking for a better future. Therefore the level of education in rural areas is

very low.


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3.4.2 Drought and Lack of Irrigation Programs

There is little water resource to have good agricultural practices, this problem has made

people abandon their lands and emigrate (Ruiz, 2003). According to Ernesto Clavijo (2003),

emigration and drought produced mainly by deforestation of eucalyptus trees and the lack of a

good irrigation service are the main problems that Mira citizens face everyday. There are serious

troubles of bad water distribution. The Provincial Prefect has said , There is no award and

technical concession from the irrigation water, which should be according to the populations

needs (Yandn, 2003).

As a consequence of indiscriminate deforestation of the eucalyptus forest that surrounded

the city, drought has intensified in the last years creating problems to agriculture mainly. Eucalyptus

wood is used as firewood for cooking and brick making. There are plans to develop irrigation

programs from El Angel river basin, which is being carried out by an NGO (ARD). Citizens from

San Isidro were against the construction of an irrigation channel due to their own interest (Clavijo,

2003).

In Ecuador, the irrigation water system only covers 500,000 hectares, which represents

30% of the cultivated land in Ecuador (1,850,000 ha). In the district of Mira, the irrigation water

comes from the El Angel river basin; however, the distribution system favors those with economic

and political power in the zone, which is a clear evidence of inequality (Proao, Poats, 2000).

The Municipality of Mira organized and launched a seminar called Decentralization-

Democracy Development ARD 3D whose objectives are to strengthen the municipal capacity in

service areas, local planning, financing, administration, environmental management and

identification of priorities for community development. Furthermore, it aims for public participation

to build policies and democratic mechanisms. Finally, the project seeks an effectivedecentralization (Municipality of Mira, 2002). Eight different projects were identified that focused

on the current problems of the district. However, of the eight projects only one will be executed

and will help to improve the development of the district. The different projects presented were:

irrigation management program, development and route equipment, optimization of the economic


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resources of the district, public training, popular housing, integral strategic plan, environment unit

creation, and implementation of the public health programs.

From the different proposals, the different stakeholders at the seminar decided that the

irrigation management program was a priority for the district because its implementation will

promote agricultural development, will reduce emigration and poverty and will benefit the majority

of citizens (Municipality of Mira, 2002).

3.4.3 Emigration

According to the Mayor of Mira, people abandoned the district after dollarization started.

As a consequence of migration there are few young in the district devoted to agricultural practices.

People have gone to work in flower plantations, kitchen farms located in Tabacundo, Cayambe

and Salinas and even others have gone to other countries as table 3.4 indicates. In addition, The

majority of professionals do not come back to the town because they do not have opportunities to

apply what they learned in their universities (Clavijo, 2003).

Table 3.4: Migration of Miras citizens.

Country of Destiny Men Women Total

Spain 31 29 60

Brazil 1 1United States 5 1 6

Russia 1 1

Chile 1 1

Colombia 5 2 7

Honduras 1 1

Guatemala 2 2

Czech Republic 1 1

Belgium 1 1

Italy 2 2

United Kingdom 3 2 5Cuba 1 1

Sweden 1 1

Costa Rica 1 1

Austria 1 1 2

Total 51 42 93

Source:INEC, 2003


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3.4.4 Municipality Problems

There is no department of planning or district development program and there are no

factories in the district (Ruiz, 2003). According to the Public Works Director, there is little interest

by the central government to support the development of works in the region, specifically from the

Ministry of Public Works. The Municipality depends on the state since it works in a centralized

system. The property value appraisals and real estate tax-list from the rural area has not been

done; therefore, citizens do not pay taxes nor contribute with the development of works for the

community (Clavijo, 2003).

There is no tourism development infrastructure in the region. There is only one hot spring

called UYAMA. In addition, there is no development even in the vicinity of the protected reserve

El Angel.

3.5 Possible Positive and Negative Impacts

There are different benefits that the community could receive from the implementation of an

electric generation program. One of the main advantages of a wind project in a community that

has the wind resource is the economic gain. In addition there will be a generation of employment,

which would lead to a reduction in emigration and poverty, and there may be the possibility of

using some of the energy to develop an irrigation program.

3.5.1 Economic Gain and Local Employment

One of the main benefit that the implementation of an electricity generation program in a

rural area that does not have opportunities for industrial development is the improvement of the

economy in the region due to capital movement and job generation. One of the biggest problems

that Ecuador has is unemployment. According to UN studies the rate of poverty for Ecuadorians

in 2002 was 60% despite the fact that the rate of unemployment and underemployment decreased

to 8.7% and 32.5% respectively (INEC, 2003). The wind electricity generation program could

contribute to the people from Mira with employment; therefore, it would reduce the

unemployment at least in the district.


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In the feasibility, construction and operational phase of the project, there is a requirement

of skilled and unskilled people. In addition, it provides opportunities for local shopkeepers, hotels,

restaurants and car rentals because workers from the electric company will live in Mira and this

will increase the average income of its citizens. However, this economic component of the project

is difficult to estimate. In the feasibility and in the construction phase local people could be

involved in the civil works, erection of mills, transportation, measurement of wind velocities and

directions and the construction of monitoring towers.

The number of people involved in a 15 MW project is around 17 people (Renewable

Energy magazine, 2000). Five man years are required for the installation of every MW and 17 for

every MW manufactured (Wind force, 2000). However, in the case of Ecuador there is no

experience in wind energy and engineering. The job opportunities will be limited only to the phases

shown in table 3.5. The table shows the typical job generation of skilled and unskilled people in

the Zafarana wind farm project of 60 MW in Egypt. There is more job generation during the

feasibility and construction phases of the program; nevertheless, the operation and maintenance

phase will be carried out during 20 years, which is the life of the wind project (Ringuis et al.,

2002). The economic analysis can be seen in the fifth chapter.

Table 3.5. Job generation for the Zafarana wind project.

Civil Works Erection of

Mills

Transportation Tower

Construction

O & M Total

Skilled 5 3 16 25 20 69

Unskilled 25 4 8 0 15 52Source:Riso National Institute

Mira has professional people that could join to the construction and operational phases of

the projects but previously they should receive training in wind energy management because it is anew field. Moreover, it will increase the opportunity of constructing factories or increasing the

capacity of the milk and cheese industries from the region that nowadays do not have refrigeration

systems that allow product conservation.


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By having integration between the electric company and the local community members, the

wind electricity program provides economic gains for Miras citizens. This is without taking into

account the option for community members to acquire some shares of the wind electricity

program.

3.5.2 Development of Irrigation Program

One of the main difficulties that the area has is the lack of good irrigation programs to deal

with the drought of the region. There are water bodies that flow in and near the district. One is the

Angel basin and the other the Mira River. There is a water basin by a creek in Juan Montalvo that

could be used to provide water, however it needs to be pumped (Clavijo, 2003). It is clear thatthe incorporation of a sustainable electricity program will assure that electricity is available for

water pumping and will help to irrigate barren lands. A good example of interconnection between

irrigation programs and electricity generation using wind energy is the Aerogeneration for the

sustainability of the pumping systems in the Province of Loja in Ecuador, as was mentioned before

(H. Consejo Provincila de Loja, 2003).

By implementing such a program the main economic activity, agriculture, will flourish again.

This will allow the district to become the agricultural hot spot that it was in the past, and it will also

allow for emigration and poverty reduction.

A reforestation program could also be incorporated as the bad practice of cutting trees

has destroyed the forest belt that the district had. Deforestation practices produces erosion and

then drought (Bouchart, 2003). By incorporating a reforestation program, which may eventually

be incorporated into a CDM program, the drought problem could decrease and this would make

the irrigation problem less critical.


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with land properties containing rivers became shareholders of the hydro electric plants on their

property (OLADE, 2003). One disadvantage of such an initiative is that in most of the cases the

main beneficiaries are the richest people from the region because they are the ones who own the

maximum amount of land in the district and the probabilities that the windmill is built in their land is

high. Therefore, the problem of poor wealth distribution would continue.

For this reason, it would be good to create a cooperative where most of the citizens will

benefit. It is necessary that a commitment exists among the citizens to contribute to the creation of

a cooperative where a fair welfare distribution exists. The cooperative must be representative of

the district that means it should include small, medium and large scale farmers, milk producers, and

merchants. Some of the difficulties with applying this method based on the other stakeholders in

the projects will be discussed in the financial chapter.

3.7.2 The Municipality

Another option to manage the project could be that the Municipality administrates the

income of the electricity program because it has a complete overview of the district needs and if it

works well it will maximize the welfare and the equity throughout the district. One benefit of is to

undertake projects that will promote the development of the region such as those mentioned in the

3-D seminar.

Nonetheless, there are some disadvantages of such a proposal and one of those is the

duration of a particular administration in the Municipality. In Ecuador the Mayor of the district

lasts 4 years and in most cases they are accustomed to developing short term projects rather than

long term projects like this one. For this reason the continuity of the project in hands of the

Municipality is not guaranteed. Furthermore, inside a government organization with good profits

comes the issue of corruption could destroy any benefits. This has been very common in Ecuador

and needs to be considered.

The selection of the right shareholders for the electric utility company will guarantee the

sustainability of the project. For this reason it is very important to analyze all the pros and cons of

both proposals.


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3.7.3 Expanding Capital Markets

One problem that has plagued Ecuador for many years is the poor banking sector (Saltos &

Vzques, 1999). With the bank holidays and money lost in the banks during the administration of

Jamil Mahuad, very few people have confidence in putting their money in banks. One way that

this project could be carried out is by looking for national investors in the project. Developing

infrastructure programs in developing countries should not only have the goal of providing services

to the citizens but it should also help to develop local capital markets where nationals can invest

and earn a reasonable return on their investment with a low risk (Churchill, 1991). The obvious

difficulty with this method is that it would once again favor those who have money to invest in such

a project and would do nothing for the people that are considered to be poor.

3.8 Summary of Social Feasibility Analysis

Mira has been known for its agricultural potential. However, in the last years bad

agricultural practices, deforestation and the lack of good irrigation programs, coordinated by the

Municipality of the district has provoked drought in the area. In addition, dollarization and the Plan

Colombia have intensified the problems, making the main economic activity, agriculture,

noncompetitive, in turn increasing the level of poverty in the region. In order to cope with this

situation people had to migrate to other areas inside and outside the country in spite of the

educational level they had.

The wind energy project could make good use of the available resource in the area and one

of its benefits could be to promote a sustainable irrigation program by providing electricity for the

water pumping needs. In addition, the integration of the community members that have not had

previous opportunities to develop their skills in the development of the district could be exploited.

The community could be involved in the construction and operation phases of the project and this

would increase the income in the district, decreasing at the same time the poverty and the

migration levels of the area.

Finally, the construction of a cooperative based association or the integration of the

Municipality as shareholders of the wind energy project could allow people from the community to


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receive the benefits. These benefits are related to improvements in the economic income and the

execution of public works that are vital for the communitys development. This could be achieved

if the wind energy project becomes a reality in Mira.


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CHAPTER 4: TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY STUDY AND SITE

SELECTION

The present Chapters goal is to do a preliminary design of the wind farm. Wind Resource

Characterization has not taken place in the country, except for isolated projects of private interest,

and only monthly averages are available from the competent national organization, INHAMI.

Unfortunately, the data barely give an idea of the availability of the resource in the district of Mira

and does not allow for reliable wind power calculation. Site specific wind speed distribution is

necessary (Danish Wind Industry Association DWIA, 2002). In the Mira river basin, 150 km to

the north of Quito, in the province of Imbabura at a site known as the Salinas Valley, there is a

project for electric generation from wind. This project, held by a wind prospecting private

company PROVIENTO, is called Proyecto de Energa Elica de Salinas and is currently in

progress (PROVIENTO, 2000). PROVIENTO has been registering wind measurements at the

site since 1996. The feasibility study of that project presents the wind speed distribution during a

year for three measurement points. This data will be used for the calculations for the wind farm

preliminary design in the present project, due to the absence of more site specific data. It will take

a long time to gather the required logs as will be described later.

In summary, this chapter as a first step offers a literature review to establish the main terms

and definitions to be used for assessing the technical feasibility of the project; then, details for a

necessary wind resource characterization are described. Next, by using the available wind data

of the Salinas project, the annual energy production is calculated.

The acquisition of this data is essential to assess the projects economic feasibility. In the event

that an actual wind farm is to be built it would be necessary to design a wind measurementprogram for at least 2 years, if possible, at the appropriate sites and heights where turbines are to

be placed (DWIA,2002). Therefore, this chapter provides only the basic methodology for the

wind farm calculations and design but its results have only a referential character.


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4.1 Wind Energy Basics

4.1.1 Wind Power Density

The energy flux, or wind power density, of a stream of air of density [kg/m3] moving with

velocity v [m/s]is given by: (Cavallo, Hock, Smith.,1993)

(Pw)dens = v3/2 [watts/m2]

A wind turbine obtains its power input by converting the force of the wind into a torque (turning

force) acting on the rotor blades. Then, the amount of energy transferred from the wind to the

rotor depends on the density of the air, the rotor area A (m2), and the wind speed (DWIA, 2002).

The power (Pw) of a wind turbine is given by the expression: (Barriga, 2002)

Pw= Av3/2 [watts]

4.1.2 Air Density

The "heavier" the air, the more energy is captured by the turbine. At normal atmospheric

pressure at 15 Celsius air weighs about 1.225 kilogrammes per cubic metre, but the density

decreases slightly with increasing humidity. Also, the air is denser when it is cold than when it is

warm. At high altitudes, (in mountains) the air pressure is lower, and the air is less dense

(DWIA,2002). Therefore, air density is one of the characteristics making wind power extremely

site specific.

4.1.3 Wind Velocity

The energy content of the wind varies with the cube (the third power) of the average wind

speed, as derived from the last expression. Wind velocity is inherently variable in both magnitude

and direction. In fact, wind velocity may fluctuate from second to second. Wind patterns vary also

seasonally and may vary from year to year for a given location (DWIA,2002). These

characteristics necessitate a long period of wind characterization to gather reliable data for a

specific place within an area of interest for a wind farm. However, the strong winds usually come


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Table 4.1: Roughness Class and Roughness Length (m) for different landscape types

Landscape Type Rough-

ness Class

Roughness

Length (m)

Water surface 0 0.0002

Open terrain with a smooth surface (e.g. runways, in airports,mowed grass, etc)

0.5 0.0024

Open agricultural area without fences and hedgerows and very

scattered buildings. Only softly rounded hills

1 0.03

Landscape Type Rough-

ness Class

Roughness

Length (m)

Agricultural land with some houses and 8 metre tall sheltering

hedgerows with a distance of approx. 250 mts

1.5 0.055

Agricultural land with some houses and 8 metre tall sheltering

hedgerows with a distance of approx. 500 metres

2 0.1

Agricultural land with many houses, shrubs and plants, or 8 metre

tall sheltering hedgerows with a distance of approx. 250 metres

2.5 0.2

Villages, small towns, agricultural land with many or tall shelteringhedgerows, forests and very rough and uneven terrain

3 0.4

Larger cities with tall buildings 3.5 0.8

Very large cities with tall buildings and skyscrapers 4 1.6

Source:DWIA, 2002

4.1.5 Weibull Distribution

Weibull distribution describes the wind variation for a typical site. Normally, the

measurements are carried out during 1 year. The graph of the distribution shows the number of

hours a year in which the velocity is within each different class or range of velocities i.e. the

probability density distribution. Therefore, the probability of occurrence of any velocity may be

derived from this distribution. A Weibull distribution is defined by two parameters: mean velocity

and shape parameter. Figure 4.1 (DWIA,2002) is a typical Weibull distribution in which the mean

velocity is 7 m/s and the shape parameter is 2.

Figure 4-1: Typical Weibull distribution with mean velocity of 7 m/s

Source:DWIA, 2002


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If each tiny wind speed interval is multiplied by its probability of occurrence, and those

values are added up, the result is the mean wind speed. In other words, the mean wind speed is

the average of the wind speed measurements for the site. The most common wind speed is called

the modal value of the distribution; in the case of the figure it is 5.5 m/s. The statistical distributions

of wind speeds are not symmetrical. The shape factor describes how the distribution is skewed. If

the shape parameter is exactly 2, as in the graph, the distribution is known as a Rayleigh

distribution. Turbine manufacturers often use this distribution to give standard performance figures

for their machines.

4.1.6 Betz Law

When wind passes through turbines, it is slowed down. Aerodynamics of this energy

transmission process explains that an ideal turbine would slow the wind down by 2/3 of its original

speed. Derived from this fact, the Betz law expresses that any turbine can only convert less than

16/27 (or 59%) of the kinetic energy in the wind to mechanical energy. This generalization applies

for any turbine with a disc-like rotor (DWIA,2002).

4.1.7 Power Density Function

The power density function is derived from the Weibull Distribution, by multiplying the

power of each wind speed with the correspondent probability of that speed. If average wind

velocities were used instead of the power density function, the power calculation will be

underestimating wind resources by nearly 100%, provided that high wind speeds although rare,

account for a big share of the harvested energy (DWIA,2002).

Also as a consequence of this, the Weibull curve changes shape. The resulting power

density function derived from the previous Weibull distribution is shown in the Figure 4.2.


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Figure 4-2: Power Density of the Weibull Distribution in Figure 4-1

Source:DWIA, 2002

4.2 Wind Turbines

4.2.1 Power Curves

Figure 4-3: Power curve for a typical Danish 600 kw wind turbine.

Source:DWIA, 2002

The power curve is a graphical register of the electrical power output for a given turbine at

different wind speeds. Power curves are obtained from field measurements, and are provided by

the turbines manufacturer. This data allows building the turbine power output curve in the


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previous graph. Figure 4.3 shows a power curve for a typical Danish 600 kw wind turbine

(DWIA,2002).

Given the continuous fluctuation of wind velocity it is difficult to get accurate data for the

power curve. It results in the possibility of errors up to plus or minus 10 percent even in certified

power curves (DWIA,2002). Additionally, power curves are registered at standard air pressure

and temperature, (1 atm, 298 K); consequently it is necessary to make corrections for changes in

air density.

The turbines, also called aero-generators are the devices used to capture and convert the

wind energy into electrical energy. Those devices are designed to start running at a certain wind

speed called the cut in speed, which is usually somewhere around 3 to 5 m/s (DWIA,2002).

Similarly, there is a cut out speed at which the wind turbine is programmed to stop. It occurs at

high wind speeds, around 25 m/s, in order to protect the turbine from excessive loads and the

surroundings.

4.2.2 Annual Energy output of a wind turbine

The energy output in kWh per year, tells how much electrical energy the wind turbine will

produce in an average year and is one of the features that is used to calculate the unit cost of

electricity on an annual basis as will be described later. In order to calculate the energy output of

a wind turbine, it is necessary to combine the sites meteorological data, the sites Weibull

Distribution and the selected turbines power curve. If the probability of each velocity on the

Weibull Distribution is multiplied by that velocity and its corresponding power value from the

turbines power curve (adjusted for the meteorological conditions) and all of these partial products

are summed up, the result is the average power output for that turbine. If this value is multiplied by

365 day/year and 24 hour/day, the total energy output for an average year is obtained. It must be

noted that power curves are obtained empirically by the manufacturer for standard conditions (1

atm and air pressure 1,225 kg/m3). Upon this calculation, site meteorological conditions are also

used to determine the theoretical maximum output, and then, the turbines capacity factor. It is the


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actual annual energy output divided by the theoretical maximum output, if the machine were

running at its rated (maximum) power all along the year (DWIA,2002).

4.2.3 Wind Turbine Types

As regards to axis orientation, two types of wind turbines exist: horizontal axis or vertical

axis. However, all grid-connected commercial wind turbines today are built with a propeller-type

rotor on a horizontal axis (i.e. a horizontal main shaft) (DWIA,2002). Additionally, there are

Upwind and Downwind Machines. Upwind machines have the rotor facing the wind. The basic

advantage of upwind designs is that one avoids the wind shade behind the tower. By far the vast

majority of wind turbines have this design (DWIA,2002). Finally, wind turbines may also differ inthe number of rotor blades. Most modern wind turbines are three-bladed designs with the rotor

position maintained upwind (on the windy side of the tower) using electrical motors in their yaw

mechanism. This design is usually called the classical Danish concept and the vast majority of

turbines sold in world markets have this design (DWIA,2002). For the purposes of this research,

and given the scope of the technical feasibility analysis, only typical Danish wind turbines are

considered for selection. A required further analysis of the technical design may explore other

possibilities.

4.2.4 Wind Turbine Components

The basic elements in typical wind turbines are: nacelle, rotor blades, hub, tower, gearbox,

electrical generator. Additionally modern wind turbines include other mechanisms that make

possible their operation such as: low speed shaft, high speed shaft with its mechanical brake yaw

mechanism, electronic controller, hydraulics system, cooling unit, tower, anemometer, and wind

vane. The nacelle contains key components of the wind turbine, including the gearbox and the

electrical generator. The turbine rotor includes both the rotor blades and the motor hub. Rotor

blades capture the wind and transfer its power to the rotor hub. This hub is attached to the low

speed shaft of the turbine which goes into the gearbox. On a modern 600 kW wind turbine the

rotor rotates slowly, about 19 to 30 revolutions per minute (rpm) (DWIA,2002). The high speed


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shaft at the gearbox output rotates 50 times faster than the low speed shaft. It is nearly 1500 rpm,

and drives the electrical generator. It is equipped with an emergency mechanical disc brake. The

electrical generator is usually an induction or asynchronous generator. On modern wind turbines

electric power ranges between 500 and 3000 (kw). The tower of the wind turbine holds the

nacelle and the rotor. Towers may be either tubular towers or lattice towers. Modern turbines

include an electronic controller consisting of a computer continuously monitoring the condition of

the wind turbine and controlling its operation. The electronic controller also senses the wind

direction, and operates the yaw mechanism which turns the nacelle and the rotor to keep it against

the wind when its direction changes. The anemometer and the wind vane measure the speed and

direction of the wind and send their signals to the electronic controller.

4.2.5 Size of Wind Turbines

Higher towers have the advantage that wind speeds increase farther away from the

ground. A typical modern 600 kW turbine will have a tower of 40 to 60 meters (DWIA,2002).

Longer rotor blades implies a higher capacity of capturing energy from the wind, since power is

proportional to the area swept by the rotor (i.e. the square of the rotor blade length), as seen in

the expression of the power of a wind turbine. Nevertheless, large rotor turbines and generators

require also large wind power to be moved. On the other hand smaller generators in low wind

areas provide more electrical power output, because they will be running more hours during a year

(DWIA,2002).

The Danish Wind Industry Association exposes economies of scale and efficiency in the use

of wind resource as reason to select large turbines instead of smaller ones. Other advantages of

large turbines are that they are more suited for weak electric grids while the electricity output of a

wind farm of smaller turbines fluctuates. On the other hand, the costs of transportation and

mounting of smaller components are frequently lower and the risk of temporary failure is spread in

several small units rather than in a few large ones (DWIA,2002). All of these factors must be


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balanced in attention to local conditions in order to select the most convenient turbine arrangement

for a wind farm.

4.3 Wind Prospecting & Site Selection

4.3.1 Macro Siting Considerations

For the initial site selection, there are a number of methods to identify regions with a

significant wind resource. Most countries have a national meteorological institute for predicting the

weather in order to warn their citizens of imminent natural disasters or for general weather

forecasting. Measurements are also taken for aviation purposes. While this data can be helpful in

getting a general idea of where there is a considerable wind resource, they are usually very local as

is the case for airport data or are measurements of upper wind speeds using weather balloons

which are not very helpful for knowing the surface wind speed. The area of Mira in this project

was chosen based on information from INAMHI, which has a wind station in the town of Mira.

Another way to identify areas of considerable wind resources is to use upper air pressure/

wind data and combine it with high resolution surface topology information to estimate surface

wind potential (Hamlin, 2001). The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) is carrying out

a project called Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA), which uses this

approach to characterize the wind resource in 13 developing countries. The resource information

collected through SWERA will be widely available as a user friendly Geographical Information

Systems (GIS) tool including geospatial information such as proximity to grid substations,

population density, roads and non-electrified areas (UNEP, 2002). Unfortunately, Ecuador is not

one of the 13 countries to have had the wind resource map developed for it during the initial

phases of the SWERA program. This informational tool will give a considerable advantage for

foreign investment to those nations that have it.


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SWERA uses a number of wind mapping models including WRAMS, which is a model

developed by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) that selects the most

favourable topology for wind and calculates the wind power from upper air data and then

calibrates that to ground data (Hamlin, 2001). WAsP is another model developed by the Riso

National Laboratory in Denmark and predicts wind power from wind data measured at weather

stations in the same region, taking into account topology and obstructions (WAsP, 2003). Figure

4-4 shows the wind resource map for the Dominican Republic.

Figure 4 -4: Most favorable wind resource areas in Dominican Republic.

Source:Hamlin, 2001


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4.3.2 Micro Siting Considerations

Skewed trees and shrubs as well as traces of erosion may show evidence of intense winds

and their prevailing direction at the site. Likewise, topographic characteristics give an idea of the

better places for locating wind turbines. Two speed up effects are known: Tunnel effect and Hill

effect. The first occurs due to the compression experienced by the wind when passing between

two mountains or gulch walls (DWIA,2002). Turbines are commonly placed on hills overlooking

the surrounding landscape. The wind becomes compressed on the windy side of the hill, what is

known as the Hill effect (DWIA,2002). Therefore, both tunnels and hills are places likely to have

higher wind speeds than in other areas. Nevertheless, if the tunnel walls or the hill are uneven and

are not softly embedded in the landscape, it may cause turbulence and consequently cancel the

advantages of those speed-up effects. In general, desirable characteristics for a site to place wind

turbines include wide and open spaces as possible in the prevailing wind direction, few obstacles

and low roughness in that same direction.

Other issues to take into account for defining the location of a wind farm are: the availability

of the appropriate electrical facilities to transport the electricity, the feasibility of building

foundations of the turbines, and road construction to reach the site with heavy trucks transporting

the equipment (DWIA,2002).

4.3.3 Wind Potential Assessment

According to the World Bank Industry and Energy Department (1986), the principal

descriptive parameter of a wind regime is the annual average wind speed. Wind resource

assessment, also known as anemometry, is commonly carried out for aviation or weather

forecasting purposes, consisting quantifying the amount, variability and other characteristics of the

wind. However, those aviation and meteorological data are not sufficiently reliable for assessment

of wind energy potential, given the cube relationship existing between wind power and wind

speed. Consequently, small differences in wind speed can have significant effects on the total

power available (The World Bank Industry and Energy Department, 1986). As stated before,

(Section: Power Density Function), if average speed values were used in wind power calculation,


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the outcome would underestimate wind potential by nearly 100% (DWIA,2002). The World

Bank guidelines for assessing wind potential asserts Before any wind energy system can be

seriously contemplated, good wind regime data must be available (The World Bank Industry and

Energy Department, 1986), and then describes good in terms of accuracy and range of data

collected as well as length of time over which measurements take place. As regards to length of

time the WB Guidelines estimate that 5 years would be highly desirable, 2 years would be

sufficient to have a reasonable certainty of the distribution, and a 1 year period would be the a

bare minimum.

The devices used to measure the wind speed over a given period of time, or averaging

time period are called anemometers. The ideal averaging period for any situation is the longest

one which still permits one to capture the type of oscillations in the wind pattern which are deemed

relevant for the application in question (The World Bank Industry and Energy Department,

1986). Finally, the Danish Wind Industry Association as well as the WB guidelines endorse that a

10 minutes averaging period is suitable for wind potential prospection purposes (DWIA,2002).

In this way, conventional anemometers (10 minute average period) allow 144 observations per

day and 52,560 per year. All of that data is sorted into bins or ranges of velocity to obtain a

frequency distribution or Weibull Distribution, described before. WB Guidelines presents, as

example, ranges or bins of 1m/s.

Another resource used to characterize the wind of a site is a Wind rose. It is a graph used

to illustrate the relative energy content of the wind coming from the varying wind directions, at a

specific measurement site. Wind roses are extremely useful to locate wind turbines, and for the

general wind farm layout, if a large share of the energy in the wind comes from a particular

direction, it would be desirable to have as few obstacles as possible in that direction. The next

figure shows an example (DWIA,2002).


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Figure 4 -5: Example of a Wind Rose

Source:DWIA, 2002

Standard Wind Roses have 12 sectors, one for each degree of the horizon. The radius of

the outermost wide wedges gives the relative frequency of each of the 12 wind directions. The

next wedge provides the same information but multiplied by the average wind speed in the

correspondent direction, normalized and expressed as percentage. It shows how much each

sector contributes to the average wind speed at our particular location. Finally, the innermost

wedge gives the energy content of wind coming from the diverse directions expressed as a

percentage, by taking into account the cube of the respective wind speed.

As supported by the Danish Wind Industry Association as regards to wind rose graphs,

Planners of large wind parks will usually rely on one year of local measurements, and then use

long-term meteorological observations from nearby weather stations to adjust their measurements

to obtain a reliable long term average (DWIA,2002).

4.3.4 Measurement Equipment

Wind speeds are usually measured using cup anemometers. Those devices have a

vertical axis and three cups which capture the wind, its revolutions per minute (rpm) are

electronically registered. Additionally, typically used anemometers include a vane to detect the


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wind direction. Other types of anemometers may include propellers, ultrasonic laser devices,

however those are less common, and the analysis of its convenience goes beyond the scope of this

research. What is important to know about anemometers is that, professional and well calibrated

anemometers are required for purposes of wind potential assessment. Poorly calibrated

anemometers available in the market for meteorological purposes may include errors of 5 to 10

percent that could cause a disaster in economic terms if used for wind prospection (DWIA,2002).

The anemometers data of wind speeds and directions is registered and collected on a data

logger, a battery operated electronic chip or a small computer (DWIA,2002).

At a prospective wind turbine site, anemometers are placed at the top of a mast in the

prevailing direction of the wind. In order to minimize the uncertainty involved in recalculating the

wind speeds at a different height, the best is to have the anemometer at the same height as the

expected hub height of the turbine to be used (DWIA,2002). The log Relationship is used to

calculate the wind mean velocity at a given height when wind prospection data is available for

other heights at which prospection took place (The World Bank Industry and Energy Department,

1986) as shown through the following expression:

Where: V(x) represents the average wind speed at height x, h1 and h2 are the two respective

heights in meters and R is a surface roughness constant.

4.4 Site of the Project and Review of Available Data

The Mira location is known for its intense winds, especially during the summer in July and

August. The confirmation of this observation was requested from Miras Mayor (Ruiz, 2003)and

the inputs from some inhabitants of the zone. The mentioned official acknowledged also that

several places within the district of Mira could serve for the purposes of placing wind turbines,

mainly the locations known as El Hato, and El Mirador. Those areas are agricultural lands;

consequently, the presence of wind turbines would not considerably affect the current land use

)/ln()/ln(

)()(

1

2

1

2

RhRh

hVhV =


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(DWIA,2002). However, more of those lands are untilled. The presence of high winds was also

verified by visual inspection of the site where the skew of the trees and shrubs gives an idea of

strong winds in a given direction towards the Salinas valley. In addition, the zone has the highest

hills in the surrounding landscape, where turbines could be placed to take advantage of the hill

effect, explained before.

As discussed, the necessary wind resource characterization for a project of large scale electricity

generation implies a long period of measurements at specific points where the power density of

wind is suspected to be considerable. In the face of the absence of this data, available data for

the Salinas Valley is used referentially as explained before. The characterization has been carried

out by the company PROVIENTO in three sites from 1997 to 1999. PROVIENTO denominated

the sites: #40, #50 and #21. The measurement height for all of them is 40 meters. It is important to

note that PROVIENTO changed its name to ELECTROVIENTO by the year 2002 and the

project studies done by the latter company have changed the features with respect to those of the

former.

Given the scope for the present technical feasibility study, it is assumed that the District of

Mira has available a number of points with similar wind potential in which wind turbines may be

placed. This wind potential is represented by the Weibull Distribution given for a test measurement

point upon the PROVIENTOs wind distribution data in the Salinas Project. The two first rows in

table 4.2 present such information.

Table 4.2: Wind Distribution

Speed

(m/s)

Hours/year

(h)

Probability Prob*Speed Weibull Absolute

Deviation

0 86 0.0098 0.0000 0.0000 0.0098

1 457 0.0522 0.0522 0.0645 0.01232 668 0.0763 0.1525 0.0907 0.0145

3 792 0.0904 0.2712 0.1035 0.0131

4 858 0.0979 0.3918 0.1069 0.0090

5 854 0.0975 0.4874 0.1035 0.0060

6 818 0.0934 0.5603 0.0956 0.0022

7 744 0.0849 0.5945 0.0849 0.0000

8 656 0.0749

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