Multifactorial Analysis to Determine the Applicability of Wind Power Technologies in Favorable Areas of the Colombian Territory

Abstract

Colombia has an energy matrix that is mostly hydroelectric and includes renewable energies such as wind power, which represents a minor contribution. The only operational wind farm is in the northern part of the country, where more projects will be implemented in the future in search of increasing the installed capacity and electricity generation. However, the wind potential and behavior of other areas of the national territory have been little reviewed. The most recommended method to characterize the potential in different areas of Colombia is to use real data, generating vertical extrapolations and respecting the good practices of the wind industry. The foregoing not only allows the generation of statistical and descriptive characterizations but also, together with the climatological, geographical, and technological variables (turbines), an estimate of the generable energy that can be obtained. In the described study, we applied specialized software to generate a rating matrix, from which it was possible to issue an opinion on five possible locations obtained from the theoretical development of micrositing, where 14 factors were reviewed. There is no published research of this nature for the country, so it is relevant in terms of novelty. Finally, it can be concluded that in Colombia, the wind potential should not be associated with a specific region, since there are data throughout the territory where this type of research can be replicated.