Can Eritrea harness wind energy?

Mr. Tesfay Ghebrehiwet, the Director of Renewable Energy at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, said that given that Eritrea has high potential of harnessing wind, the prospects of an extensive use of wind energy in the country looks promising.

Where is wind power located in Eritrea?

The wind sites in Eritrea, which are distributed all over the country, can roughly be divided into three regions: the Coastal Region, Western Lowlands, and Central Highlands. The most potent site for wind power is the Coastal Region of Eritrea, Southern Red Sea Coast in particular.

How many wind sites are there in Eritrea?

This paper presents the wind energy potential and wind characteristics for 25 wind sites in Eritrea, based on wind data from the years 2000–2005. The studied sites are distributed all over Eritrea, but can roughly be divided into three regions: coastal region, western lowlands, and central highlands.

Does Eritrea have a good wind resource?

However, according to there has been very small changes over time for the wind resource in Eritrea (more precisely between 0 and 1% increase in normalized wind energy generation per decade), whereas many other regions in the world were found to show a slight decline in wind resource over time (explained in part by increased surface roughness).

How does Eritrea generate electricity?

Currently, Eritrea’s electricity generation mode – in the interconected and independent platforms – mostly depends on diesel fuel powered turbines. This is both expensive and harmful to the ecosystem.

How are winds created in Eritrea?

Winds in Eritrea as clearly discussed in are created by combination of inversion layer dynamics, synoptic-scale gradients and local differential heating. In the complex topography of highland sites, it is necessary to analyze the inversion layer dynamics as it dominates the synoptic pressure gradient.