Wind Modelling for Samoa

AxoWind is a technology developer who engaged ITP in 2016 to help prepare a proposal for Samoa’s Electric Power Corporation (EPC) about deploying AxoWind’s wind turbines on Savai’i. ITP conducted comprehensive modelling of the AxoWind solution in context of the Savai’i environment. ITP developed three separate models of the Savai’i system which involved a number of individual tasks:

• Electrical system model:
  • Using a model of the Savai’i grid based on information provided by EPC and details of the electrical characteristics of the AxoWind turbine, ITP identified turbine locations to ensure that they would (i) support the operation of the grid; (ii) reduce the need for network upgrades; and (iii) reduce transmission losses.
• Wind farm model:
  • Wind mapping: Prepared a wind resource map for Savai’i using EPC-supplied and publically available wind data and topographic information
  • Turbine siting and energy optimisation: A number of constraints such as social, vegetation and electrical infrastructure, were considered in the optimisation of the number and placement of turbines to maximise network operation benefits and minimise environmental impacts.
• Energy balance model:
  • Energy storage sizing: The electrical system for Savai’i was modelled and optimised in HOMER to determine the number of turbines and amount of energy storage required for a 100% renewable energy scenario. HOMER performs an energy balance for each time step.
  • Energy storage location: The electricity network model was used to identify preferred locations for the connection of energy storage to the Savai’i network after the quantity of energy storage was estimated by HOMER.