Comparative Analysis of Wind Resource Potential and Turbulence Intensity for Small-Scale Power Generation in Coastal Nigerian University Communities

Abstract

This paper evaluates wind-resource potential, monthly wind-speed variability, and small-scale powergeneration suitability at the University of Uyo Main Campus in coastal Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Ten years of wind-speed records from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency for 2011-2020 were combined with site-level field measurements collected in July 2021 at five campus locations. The NIMET records were used for climatological assessment, annual wind-speed classification, Weibull distribution fitting, and coefficient-of-variation analysis. The campus measurements were used to compare micro-siting effects across locations with different terrain exposure and obstruction levels. A rotor-level CFD interpretation was also used to relate the reported torque result to possible mechanical power. The decadal annual mean wind speed was 2.26 m/s, while the mean of the monthly climatological averages was 2.41 m/s. Site 2 recorded the highest mean speed of 3.1 m/s and wind power density of 20.13 W/m², while Site 5 recorded only 1.6 m/s and 2.60 W/m². The coefficient of variation of the monthly mean wind speed was about 0.18. This value is interpreted as a monthly wind-resource variability indicator, not as measured turbulence intensity, because the available record does not contain short-interval wind-speed fluctuations. The CFD torque value of about 3.2 N·m corresponds to limited mechanical power and must be interpreted together with rotor speed, drivetrain efficiency, generator efficiency, storage losses, and actual load demand. The results do not support utility-scale wind generation at the study location. They indicate, however, that carefully sited lowcut-in-speed micro-wind systems may support limited loads such as LED lighting, small electronics charging, sensor nodes, and hybrid wind-solar battery systems.