Wind Energy Potential for Electricity Production in Hatay, Turkey

In this study, we examine Turkey’s Hatay city and some of its districts (Belen, Antakya, Iskenderun, Samandag) and we assessed the possibility of electricity production from wind power plants. The area of Hatay is 5559 km 2 that is located in the southernmost part of Turkey and east of the Mediterranean Sea. The accumulated data obtained from Belen- Hatay wind speed data are shown. The seasonal cumulative probability distributions of wind speeds for Belen-Hatay are analysed in the paper. The wind speeds in summer are higher than in the other seasons. As a result, the Belen-Hatay region is a very favourable place in terms of wind and has high wind energy potential. In this region, the hourly wind speeds are higher than 5 m/s and about 70% of occasions at 10 m height above ground level. It is also known that for nine months of the year, the average wind speeds are more than 5 m/s. On the other hand, average monthly wind energy productions are higher than 200W/m 2 for eight months of the year.