Wind and solar energy potential in Makkah (Saudi Arabia)—Comparison with Red Sea coastal sites

The characteristics of wind regimes and the availability of wind energy resources in Makkah, its outskirts and selected sites on the eastern and western coasts of the Red Sea have been studied. Statistical analysis of the wind speeds involving fitting of observed cumulative distribution to Weibull distribution function by least square technique, determination of the Weibull parameters and evaluation of wind power density by two methods, was carried out. The mean annual wind energy density at 10 m A.G.L. lies between 250 and 500 kWh/m 2 on the Red Sea coast sites and drops to about 50 kWh/m 2 in inland areas. Yanbu on the east coast has the highest resource while Makkah, affected by the Sarawat mountains, has the lowest wind energy density. The solar energy in all these areas is abundant. In Makkah and Port Sudan the mean annual solar energy density exceeds 2.0 MWh/m 2.