This paper presents the technical, financial, and environmental impact assessment of a 50-MW (MW) utility-scale wind farm in Ghana at four locations: Anloga, Atiteti, Sege, and Denu. The monthly average wind speeds recorded at the locations were 6.01 m/s, 5.98 m/s, 5.46 m/s, and 5.17 m/s respectively at 60 m above ground level. Capacity factors of 24.9%, 24.4%, 20.6%, and 18.0% were obtained at the locations respectively. The Net Present Value (NPV) was the main financial metric employed to determine the viability of the projects. The results indicated that a potential utility-scale wind project is viable at all locations under study. Furthermore, the Electricity Exported to the Grid and the Electricity Export Rate (EER) had the highest impact of 0.63 and 0.62 on the NPV respectively and therefore these key parameters should be well considered before any potential project implementation.
Keywords: Electricity production cost; Greenhouse gas emissions; Internal rate of return; Net present value; RETScreen Expert; Simple payback.
© 2023 The Authors.