Offshore Wind Energy Prospects in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar

Abstract

Nowadays, one of pressing problems in Myanmar is shortage of electric energy, which makes approximately 10% of all electric energy consumed in the country. This shortage can be partially decreased by constructing large-capacity grid-connected wind farms.

The last four years have seen a general decline in the growth rates of commissioned wind farm capacities around the world; nonetheless, certain wind energy industry sectors, primarily offshore wind energy, demonstrate a steady growth. In recent years, the market of Asian countries, in particular, that of China, is one of the most rapidly growing offshore wind energy markets.

An updated theoretical wind energy potential of Myanmar is given. It is shown that the highest wind intensity is observed on the western and southern coasts of Myanmar, which make approximately 8% of the country’s total area.

The theoretical wind energy potential of the Andaman Sea water area near the west coast of Myanmar at heights equal to 10 and 100 m has been evaluated for the first time; eight promising sites for constructing offshore wind farms have been determined, and a model for analyzing efficient wind farms has been selected.

A procedure has been developed, using which the optimal composition of a complex of several wind farms with the total capacity equal to 47.6 MW has been found. These wind farms are located at significant distances from each other in Andaman Sea areas, which are characterized by an essentially non-uniform distribution in time of wind intensities in them. Owing to this feature, it is possible to increase the energy generation by 8% and achieve a higher wind farm capacity utilization factor.