Assessing the Best Fit Probability Distribution Model for Wind Speed Data for Different Sites of Burkina Faso

In order to estimate the power output of a wind turbine, optimise its sizing and forecast the economic rate of return and risks of a wind energy project, wind speed distribution modelling is crucial. For which, Weibull distribution is considered as one of the most acceptable model. However, this distribution does not fit certain wind speed regimes. The objective of this study is to model the frequency distribution of the three-hourly wind speed at ten sites of Burkina Faso. In this context, we compared the accuracy of five distributions (Weibull, Hybrid Weibull, Rayleigh, Gamma and inverse Gaussian) which gave satisfactory results in this field. The maximum likelihood method was used to fit the distributions to the measured data. According to the statistical analysis tools (the coefficient of determination and the root mean square error), it was found that the Weibull distribution is most suited to the Bobo, Dédougou, Ouaga and Ouahigouya sites. On the other hand, for the sites of Bogandé, Fada and Po, the hybrid Weibull distribution is the most suitable one. As to the inverse Gaussian distribution, it is the most suitable for the Boromo, Dori and Gaoua sites. In addition, the analysis focused on comparing the mean absolute error of the annual wind power density estimation using the distributions examined. The Hybrid Weibull distribution was found to have a minimal mean absolute error for most study sites.