Mahsa Maleki - Department of electrical engineering, Tabriz branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran
Mitra sarhangzadeh - Department of electrical engineering, Tabriz branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran

Due to the large need for energy and maximum effort to achieve inexhaustible energy resources as well as increasing world population, many countries have turned to renewable energy. In this paper, first, wind power potential of three locations analyzed and compared their seasonal mean wind speed. Then, the region that has a good potential (Tabriz in East Azerbaijan) selected and statistically analyzed.The Weibull probability distribution function using a long-term data source, consisting of 8 years (2005–2012) of 3-h period measured mean wind data, is adopted and analyzed. The data have been measured at a height of 10 m above the ground level. Also, seasonal wind speed variations and seasonal standard deviation are analyzed for 8-year period. The seasonal mean wind speed is between 2.25 and 5.00 m/s, while the seasonal standard deviation is in the range of 1.63–2.8. The Tabriz site is found to have good characteristics from the perspective of mean wind speed. The numerical values of the shape and scale parameters for Tabriz are seen to vary over a wide range. The annually mean value of shape parameter (k) is between 1.81 and 2.13, while the annually mean value of the Weibull scale parameter (c) is between 3.35 and 4.45 m/s. The annual power density is found to vary between 74.87 (w/m2) in 2005 and 107.39 (w/m2) in 2008, while the wind energy density (E/A) ranges from 655.60 to 940.34 (kwh/m2/year). The results show that the years of 2008 and 2012 have higher wind power densities and the year 2005 has a lower wind power density than other years. .Also, the years of 2008 and 2012 have higher wind energy density and the year 2005 has a lower wind energy density than other years.

Renewable energy, Wind potential, Mean wind speed, Weibull parameters, Power density, Energy density