Wind resource assessment and economic analysis for wind energy development in Pakistan

•Technical and economic analysis of wind energy for eighteen locations in Pakistan.•Optimal Weibull parameters estimation using Kolmogorov–Smirnov statistic.•Comparing twenty wind turbines to select the best option.•Assessing the annual power density, energy density, and capacity factor.•Sujawal, Hyderabad, and Tandoghulam are the best wind energy development sites. In the context of energy shortfalls and environmental hazards of the fossil fuel sources, this study assesses the technical and economic feasibility of wind as an alternate energy source in Pakistan. Wind data collected from eighteen different locations are fitted into the extensively used Weibull distribution. An Artificial intelligence-based optimization approach based on the Kolmogorov–Smirnov statistic is proposed to calculate highly accurate Weibull shape and scale parameters. Fitness tests are applied to illustrate the usefulness of the proposed method. Numerous performance metrics are utilized to evaluate the technical and economic viability. The technical results show an average power density in the range of 34-984W/m2 for all the sites. The compatibility of the levelized cost of electricity with the electricity generation price of the country is demonstrated to determine the feasibility and economic aspects. Results show that six of the targeted sites have a high potential for wind power production with an annual energy production of more than 22 GWh/yr and critical investment of more than 1100 USD/kW. The Levelized cost calculated for the best three sites is in the ranges of 0.0366–0.0733, 0.0388–0.0776, and 0.039–0.0.0790 USD/kWh making them suitable candidates for future wind power project.