Energy 27 (2002) 35–46

www.elsevier.com/locate/energy

Wind characteristics of Oman

M. Yusof Sulaiman *, Ahmed Mohammed Akaak, Mahdi Abd. Wahab, Azmi
Zakaria, Z. Abidin Sulaiman, Jamil Suradi
Physics Department, Faculty of Science and Environmental Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM,
Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
Received 19 January 2000

Abstract

Wind data from four stations in Oman are analyzed. The sites are located at latitudes from 17°N to
23°N and longitudes from 54°E to 59°E with nearly equal elevation (18 m) from sea level. Data are fitted
to the Weibull distribution function. Weibull parameters are derived from the empirical cumulative function
and used to calculate the mean wind speed and variance of the theoretical distribution. The goodness of
representing the observed distribution with the Weibull distribution is determined using the Kolmogorov–
Smirnov (K–S) test. At the 1% and 5% levels of confidence the observed data are well represented by the
Weibull distribution. The annual mean values of the wind speed of the observed and theoretical distributions
are 2.57 m s⫺1 and 2.53 m s⫺1 for Seeb, 2.85 m s⫺1 and 2.68 m s⫺1 for Salalah, 5.06 m s⫺1 and 5.03 m
s⫺1 for Masirah and 5.52 m s⫺1 and 5.40 m s⫺1 for Sur respectively. In general wind speed is higher
during the summer months, notably June, July and August, and is lower during the winter months of
October and November. The monthly mean wind power density varies from 9.71 W m⫺2 for Seeb in the
month of November to 520.85 W m⫺2 for Sur in the month of August. Both Sur and Masirah have good
wind energy potential.  2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Oman is a country where oil and gas are the main sources of energy. The detrimental effects
of these conventional energy sources to the environment are debatable. Moreover, these fuels have
finite lifetime and are non-renewable. Therefore alternative energy sources need to be explored and
developed.
One possible renewable source of energy is wind. Wind is air in motion caused by the rotation
of the earth and the heating of the atmosphere by the sun. The total annual kinetic energy of air

* Corresponding author: Fax: +603-89454454.

E-mail address: myusof@fsas.upm.edu.my (M.Y. Sulaiman).

0360-5442/02/$ - see front matter  2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 3 6 0 - 5 4 4 2 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 5 5 - X
36 M.Y. Sulaiman et al. / Energy 27 (2002) 35–46

Nomenclature
B Air pressure (mm Hg)
c Weibull scale parameter ms⫺1
EPF Energy Pattern Factor
f(v) Weibull distribution function
k Weibull shape parameter (dimensionless)
K–S Kolmogorov–Smirnov test
N Number of data points
O(v) Value of the empirical cumulative frequency distribution up to wind speed v
P Monthly mean wind power density (W m⫺2)
Q Maximum difference between empirical and theoretical cumulative distribution
curves
Q0.01 Critical value of K–S test at 1% significance level
Q0.05 Critical value of K–S test at 5% significant level
T Air temperature (K)
T(v) Theoretical cumulative frequency distribution function up to wind speed v
vw Weibull wind speed (m s⫺1)

Greek symbols

⌫ Gamma function
r Air density (kg m⫺3)
ro Density of dry air at standard temperature and pressure (kg m⫺3)
s2 Variance of wind speed about the mean speed

movement in the atmosphere is estimated to about 3×105 kWh or about 0.2% of the solar energy
reaching the earth [1]. The maximum technically useable potential is estimated to be 30 trillion
kWh per year or about 35% of current world total energy consumption [2].
The potential of harnessing wind energy has long been realized but because of the high cost
of generating electricity this resource is slow to receive practical acceptance. However, in a recent
report [3] the UK government has announced the development of 18 offshore wind farm sites
with an investment from the private sector of about Euro 2.58 billion (US$2.26 billion). If all of
these sites were to go ahead the power generated would be between 1000 and 1500 MW, enough
to power over one million households. In Europe two notable champions of wind power are
Denmark and Germany. The number of turbines in Germany rose from about 6200 in January
1999 to 7200 by the end of that year with a capacity of 3750 MW [4]. While wind power is
slowly getting the acceptance of the developed countries, for economic and demographic reasons,
developing countries still have to lag behind. But this may not be so with oil rich countries.
Because of their favorable economic positions, they can take up the challenge of promoting the
use of renewable energy sources. Some countries, however, may have to depend on financial aid.
In this paper the potential of wind energy at four different sites in oil rich Oman is analyzed.
 M.Y. Sulaiman et al. / Energy 27 (2002) 35–46 37

The observed daily wind data are fitted to the Weibull distribution. Following a goodness of fit
test the wind power is then calculated using the theoretical wind speed value.

2. Review of previous work

Martin [5] analyzed wind data for 11 stations along the East Coast of the Arabian Peninsula
covering a period ranging from 5 to 17 years. Monthly average wind speed and a frequency
distribution were used to determine the wind power for these stations. The result showed that the
potential of wind power was not negligible.
The wind characteristics and the available wind energy in Bahrain were studied by Alnaser
[6]. A period of 10 years for the wind data was used. The power density and long term average
wind speed and its variation at a height of 10 m above ground level were estimated.
Rehman et al. [7] calculated the shape and the scale parameters of a Weibull density distribution
function for 10 locations in Saudi Arabia. Use was made of the daily mean wind speed data from
1970 to mid-1990. The numerical values of the shape parameter c were found to vary between
1.7 and 2.7 m s⫺1, whereas the values of the scale parameter, k, varied between 3 and 6. It was
concluded that the wind data were well represented by the Weibull distribution function.
Mayhoub and Azzam [8] used wind data for 15 meteorological stations in Egypt to assess
monthly and annual wind power. The study covered a period ranging from 1973 to 1994. The
Weibull parameters were estimated and used to calculate the wind power density. The analysis
showed that along the Red Sea coast, the annual wind energy flux was found to be high indicating
possible locations for wind energy utilization.
Al Malki et al. [9] did an experimental work to run a reverse osmosis desalination plant to
produce fresh water for the Ministry of Water Resources camp in Oman using wind energy. A
wind turbine was installed to generate electricity in order to run the submersible pump in the
camp’s water well. The research was an effort of the Ministry of Water Resources to exploit
Oman’s renewable source of energy.
Dorvlo and Ampratwum [10] compiled and analyzed temperature, wind speed, relative
humidity, sunshine hours and solar radiation from 12 stations in Oman. Their work provided
handy reference for renewable technology development in Oman.

3. The Weibull distribution function

The Weibull distribution is expressed mathematically by the probability density function f(v)
as [11],

f(v)⫽冉 冊冉 冊 冋 冉 冊 册
k
c
v
c
k−1
exp ⫺
v
c
k
k⬎0,c⬎0 (1)

where k is a dimensionless shape factor and c is a scale parameter in m s⫺1. v is the wind speed
in m s⫺1.
The cumulative distribution function T(v) which gives the probability of the wind speed having
values less than v, has the form,
38 M.Y. Sulaiman et al. / Energy 27 (2002) 35–46

T(v)⫽1⫺exp ⫺ 冋 冉 冊册
v
c
k
(2)

Eq. (2) can be written as,

ln{⫺ln[1⫺T(v)]}⫽k ln v⫺k ln c (3)
By plotting different values of ln{⫺ln[1⫺T(v)]} against ln v, a straight line with slope k and
intercept ⫺k ln c is obtained.
From the Weibull distribution of Eq. (1), the mean and variance in terms of the c and k can
be shown to be [12],

冉 冊
vw⫽c⌫ 1⫹
1
k
(4)

再 冉 冊 冋 冉 冊册 冎
s2⫽c2 ⌫ 1⫹
2
k
⫺ ⌫ 1⫹
1
k
2
(5)

where ⌫ is the gamma function.

The monthly mean power density of the wind is given as,
1
P⫽ rv3 (6)
2
where r is the air density. The latter is a function of the air pressure B and the air temperature
T thus [11],

r⫽ro 冉 冊
288B
760T
(7)

ro is the density of dry air at standard temperature and pressure (1.226 kg m⫺3 at 288 K, 760
mm Hg).
Eq. (6) is an underestimation of the true mean power density if only the mean wind speed is
used. A parameter known as the Energy Pattern Factor (EPF) should be incorporated into Eq. (6)
to take into account the realistic distribution of wind speed over the low and high values. Thus,
Total amount of power available in the wind
EPF⫽
Power calculated by cubing the mean wind speed
or
Mean power density for the month
EPF⫽
Mean power density at the monthly mean

A more realistic monthly mean power density is then given as,

1
P⫽ r(EPF)v3 (8)
2
 M.Y. Sulaiman et al. / Energy 27 (2002) 35–46 39

In this work, the Weibull monthly mean wind speed vw is used to calculate the monthly mean
power density of Eq. (8).

4. The goodnes of fit

For testing the goodness of fit between the observed and Weibull cumulative frequency distri-
butions, the Kolmogorov–Smirnov (K–S) procedure was used. This is based on the maximum
difference between the observed and theoretical cumulative distributions. Thus,
Q⫽max|O(v)⫺T(v)| (9)
where O(v) and T(v) are the respective values of the observed and theoretical cumulative frequency
distributions for wind speed not exceeding v. If the value of Q does not exceed the critical value
at a particular significance level, one can accept the null hypothesis that there is no difference
between the observed and theoretical values. The critical values of Q at 5% and 1% significance
level can be estimated as follows [13],
1.36
Q0.05⫽ 1 (10)
N2

1.63
Q0.01⫽ 1 (11)
N2
where N is the sample size.

5. Results and discussion

The daily mean wind speed data for four locations in Oman over a period of 5 years are
collected and analyzed. Information about these locations is given in Table 1. Weibull parameters
are derived from the graphical plot of Eq. (3). The Weibull mean speed and variance are calculated
using Eqs. (4) and (5). The monthly mean power density of the wind is evaluated using Eq. (8).

Table 1
Latitude, longitude and elevation of the stations used in the analysis

Station Latitude N Longitude E Elevation

Deg Min Deg Min (m)

Seeb 23 35 58 17 14.6
Salalah 17 02 54 05 20.0
Masirah 20 40 58 54 18.8
Sur 22 32 59 29 13.8
40 M.Y. Sulaiman et al. / Energy 27 (2002) 35–46

Fig. 1. Observed and theoretical monthly mean wind speed for Seeb.

The observed and theoretical mean wind speeds for the four stations are shown in Figs. 1–4
while the theoretical and experimental cumulative distributions are given in Figs. 5–8. In Tables
2–5, the observed monthly average wind speed, Weibull wind speed, variance of the Weibull
wind speed, the Weibull parameters, Q values, EPF and monthly mean power density are given
for all the stations. Also given are the annual mean values of all these quantities.

Fig. 2. Observed and theoretical monthly mean wind speed for Salalah.
 M.Y. Sulaiman et al. / Energy 27 (2002) 35–46 41

Fig. 3. Observed and theoretical monthly mean wind speed for Masirah.

Fig. 4. Observed and theoretical monthly mean wind speed for Sur.

The Weibull distribution model gives a good fit to the observed monthly wind speed data.
Referring to the Q-values given in Tables 2–5, the model is significant at the 1% level for all
the stations except for the months of July to September for Seeb which is significant at 5%.
The annual values of the observed and Weibull wind speed are 2.57 m s⫺1 and 2.53 m s⫺1 for
Seeb, and 2.85 m s⫺1 and 2.68 m s⫺1 for Salalah respectively. The corresponding values for
Masirah are 5.06 m s⫺1 and 5.03 m s⫺1 and for Sur 5.52 m s⫺1 and 5.40 m s⫺1 respectively. The
42 M.Y. Sulaiman et al. / Energy 27 (2002) 35–46

Fig. 5. Theoretical and experimental cumulative distributions for Seeb.

Fig. 6. Theoretical and experimental cumulative distributions for Salalah.

 M.Y. Sulaiman et al. / Energy 27 (2002) 35–46 43

Fig. 7. Theoretical and experimental cumulative distributions for Masirah.

Fig. 8. Theoretical and experimental cumulative distributions for Sur.

44 M.Y. Sulaiman et al. / Energy 27 (2002) 35–46

Table 2
Summary of wind speed characteristics for Seeb

Months v (m s⫺1) vw (m s⫺1) s2 c (m s⫺1) k Q EPF P (W m⫺2)

Jan 2.32 2.07 1.07 2.62 2.36 0.0919 1.65 19.88

Feb 2.34 2.13 1.06 2.64 2.45 0.0889 1.60 19.30
Mar 2.74 2.71 0.82 3.07 3.11 0.0848 1.38 22.85
Apr 2.72 2.71 0.88 3.04 3.22 0.0823 1.35 21.58
May 2.90 2.79 1.13 3.26 2.83 0.0934 1.45 30.06
Jun 2.98 2.92 1.20 3.33 3.02 0.0929 1.40 30.21
Jul 2.88 2.94 0.69 3.18 3.86 0.1150a 1.25 21.77
Aug 2.96 3.04 0.67 3.26 4.09 0.1141a 1.22 22.65
Sept 2.39 2.48 0.38 2.63 4.39 0.1140a 1.20 11.48
Oct 2.28 2.30 0.52 2.54 3.49 0.1082 1.30 11.82
Nov 2.17 2.21 0.45 2.41 3.68 0.1037 1.27 9.71
Dec 2.17 2.08 0.72 2.44 2.79 0.0750 1.47 12.90
Annual 2.57 2.53 0.80 2.87 3.27 0.0912 1.38 19.52
a
Significant at 5% level.

Table 3
Summary of wind speed characteristics for Salalah

Months v (m s⫺1) vw (m s⫺1) s2 c (m s⫺1) k Q EPF P (W m⫺2)

Jan 3.10 2.22 3.19 3.49 1.80 0.0938 2.14 79.64

Feb 2.65 1.76 2.43 2.97 1.70 0.0801 2.29 57.18
Mar 2.72 2.36 1.39 3.08 2.24 0.0785 1.72 35.09
Apr 2.79 2.91 0.44 3.05 4.88 0.1009 1.16 17.16
May 3.22 3.36 0.37 3.50 5.15 0.0669 1.15 25.59
Jun 3.80 3.97 0.59 4.11 5.71 0.0661 1.12 40.37
Jul 2.98 3.12 0.38 3.23 5.59 0.0652 1.13 19.65
Aug 2.55 2.66 0.26 2.78 5.15 0.0852 1.15 12.76
Sept 2.81 2.93 0.35 3.05 5.16 0.1008 1.15 16.94
Oct 2.07 2.11 0.41 2.29 3.85 0.0757 1.25 8.08
Nov 2.34 2.29 0.74 2.62 3.01 0.0842 1.40 14.78
Dec 3.18 2.46 2.99 3.59 1.93 0.0815 1.98 73.62
Annual 2.85 2.68 1.12 3.14 3.85 0.0816 1.47 33.40

overall measured monthly mean wind speed data vary from 2.07 m s⫺1 to 8.43 m s⫺1 and corre-
spond to Salalah and Masirah respectively. The Weibull wind speed varies from 1.76 m s⫺1 for
Salalah to 8.72 m s⫺1 for Masirah. In general, monthly mean wind speed is higher during the
summer months especially in June, July and August and is lower during the winter months in
October and November.
Referring to the Weibull parameters it is found that the values of k are generally higher than
those of c for Seeb and Salalah but lower for Masirah and Sur. The parameter c varies from 2.29
m s⫺1 for Salalah to 9.25 m s⫺1 for Masirah whereas k varies from 1.70 for Salalah to 5.71 also
for Salalah. The parameter c has high values during the summer months. In general vw, c and k
 M.Y. Sulaiman et al. / Energy 27 (2002) 35–46 45

Table 4
Summary of wind speed characteristics for Masirah

Months v (m s⫺1) vw (m s⫺1) s2 c (m s⫺1) k Q EPF P (W m⫺2)

Jan 3.79 3.49 2.63 4.28 2.50 0.0806 1.57 79.24

Feb 3.98 3.88 2.15 4.46 2.95 0.0751 1.42 73.99
Mar 4.04 4.11 1.47 4.47 3.71 0.0616 1.27 61.91
Apr 4.36 4.39 1.95 4.85 3.45 0.0465 1.31 83.11
May 6.02 6.25 2.17 6.58 4.66 0.0291 1.18 176.32
Jun 6.86 6.91 4.61 7.63 3.47 0.0661 1.31 321.89
Jul 8.43 8.72 4.29 9.25 4.39 0.0796 1.20 501.00
Aug 6.88 7.00 4.28 7.62 3.71 0.0787 1.27 306.82
Sept 5.45 5.18 4.70 6.13 2.72 0.0671 1.49 210.56
Oct 3.37 3.29 1.51 3.78 2.97 0.0891 1.41 44.77
Nov 3.54 3.41 1.75 3.97 2.84 0.0733 1.45 54.32
Dec 4.04 3.72 2.97 4.56 2.51 0.0864 1.57 95.36
Annual 5.06 5.03 2.87 5.63 3.32 0.0694 1.37 167.44

Table 5
Summary of wind speed characteristics for Sur

Months v (m s⫺1) vw (m s⫺1) s2 c (m s⫺1) k Q EPF P (W m⫺2)

Jan 3.84 3.48 2.90 4.33 2.43 0.0584 1.61 86.07

Feb 4.36 4.11 3.15 4.91 2.65 0.0600 1.51 111.00
Mar 5.18 4.99 3.59 5.82 2.84 0.0344 1.45 171.35
Apr 5.31 5.31 3.19 5.92 3.30 0.0672 1.34 156.02
May 6.78 6.72 5.53 7.58 3.17 0.0913 1.36 338.34
Jun 7.31 7.32 5.64 8.14 3.34 0.0439 1.33 402.93
Jul 6.92 6.80 6.53 7.74 3.05 0.0503 1.39 374.47
Aug 7.68 7.52 7.83 8.60 3.01 0.0416 1.40 520.85
Sept 6.98 7.26 2.64 7.61 4.92 0.0456 1.16 266.42
Oct 4.68 4.73 2.17 5.19 3.54 0.0434 1.29 100.05
Nov 3.48 3.44 1.53 3.90 3.10 0.0787 1.38 47.00
Dec 3.70 3.16 3.40 4.18 2.19 0.0774 1.75 90.66
Annual 5.52 5.40 4.00 6.16 3.13 0.0577 1.41 222.10

increase at the start of the year until they reach their maximum values in June to August then
decrease towards the end of the year for all the stations except Salalah. The latter is located in
the south of Oman and experiences monsoon season towards the end of the year. Thus the monthly
mean wind speed for Salalah is above the average speed for the other stations at the end of
the year.
As seen from Tables 2–5, the monthly mean wind power density is higher during the summer
and lower during the winter. Sur has the highest annual mean power density with a value of
222.10 W m⫺2 while Seeb has the lowest with 19.52 W m⫺2. The monthly mean power density
varies from 9.71 W m⫺2 for Seeb in the month of November to 520.85 W m⫺2 for Sur in August.
It is clear that both Sur and Masirah have good wind potential that can be exploited.
46 M.Y. Sulaiman et al. / Energy 27 (2002) 35–46

6. Conclusions

The monthly mean wind speed data of four stations in Oman are fitted to the Weibull distri-
bution. Based on the K–S test the model is significant at the 1% level for all the stations except
for the months of July and September for Seeb station which is significant at the 5% level. Both
Sur and Masirah have average annual wind speed exceeding 5 m s⫺1 and annual wind power
density of 222.10 W m⫺2 and 167.44 W m⫺2 respectively.

Acknowledgements

This work is financially supported by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment,
Malaysia under the IRPA (Intensification of Research in Priority Areas). We hereby wish to
acknowledge the financial assistance of the government of Malaysia. We would also like to thank
the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and Meteorology of Oman for providing the meteoro-
logical data.

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