Geospatial assessment of the wind energy for an onshore project in the Caribbean region of Colombia

Abstract

Colombia is setting a national renewable energy target providing a clear indication of the level of renewable energy development and the timeline envisioned by 2020 with almost the 7% of the energy production excluding large hydropower plants shall be generated from wind energy. Wind potential of Colombia is outstanding. The Northern Caribbean region of the country alone has almost 20.000 MW of capacity (Huertas L., 2007). The real wind energy potential of all Colombia´s regions has to be defined yet. For this reason, this study is a useful start to generate research findings to uncover suitable sites for developing wind energy. Additionally, the current energy access in Colombia and Latin America is described to illustrate the need for promoting the wind power penetration in the country and the continent. This thesis provides a more precise and differentiated assessment for an onshore wind energy farm in the Northern Caribbean region of Colombia selecting study areas of three Colombian’s departments (Atlantic, Magdalena and La Guajira). Wind energy potential assessment integrates socio-political, environmental and techno-economic criterion in a geographic information system (GIS) combining with a multi criteria decision making (MCDM) with its analytical hierarchy process approach. The suitability model developed in this thesis generated a pre-assessment tool with a ready visual access to the onshore wind energy potential of the selected study area for investors, politicians, developers, researchers, students, and the public. It will be useful for a pre-assessment site selection of a utility-scale and largely distributed wind energy. Likewise, the framework developed in this thesis successfully identified areas suitable for wind energy development based on a thorough set of seven criteria, including topography, wind power capacity, land use, proximity to the community, electricity grid access and natural reserve. The figure “Executive Summary 1” below shows the wind energy suitability of the study areas. The majority of the areas with high suitability are located in La Guajira and the Magdalena departments. Furthermore, with the result of the suitability model, the location of the “Jepirachi” wind farm in La Guajira department entirely overlaps with the areas identified as suitable which confirms the robustness of the results obtained.