Feasibility analysis of a new tree-shaped wind turbine for urban application: A case study

Abstract

In this study, feasibility of a new wind power generation system for urban application in Hormozgan Province of Iran is investigated. The wind turbine system in this study is a novel, aesthetically pleasing, noiseless, pollution-free, potentially cost-effective, and high efficiency design called tree-shaped wind turbine (TSWT). Techno-economic evaluation is performed on eight urban areas in the province using the software HOMER. Multi-criteria decision making approaches are used to prioritize the areas in terms of the best location for installing such a new system. The results of techno-economic analysis examining a wind power system consisting of 25 TSWTs show that the most electricity production would occur for Jask city which is 529,450 kWh/yr. Also, the least amount of electricity which is 339,275 kWh/yr belongs to Bandar Abbas. Considering the most important criteria including electricity production, levelized cost of electricity, population, land price, environmental impact, and frequency of natural disasters, data envelopment analysis, and the fuzzy technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution are employed to rank the cities. The results are validated by two different methods. Finally, it is suggested that Sirik is the best location for using the aforementioned wind turbine.