Assessment of wind energy to power solar brackish water greenhouse desalination units: A case study from Algeria

The Algerian desert dominates large parts of the country's vast territory, and Algeria is among the countries filling most of the world's largest desert. In fact the country is over 80% desert. Even though more than 80% of the population is located in the northern Mediterranean coastal zone, most of oil and gas fields are located in the country's vast southern desert called Sahara. Furthermore, the desert region is developed into a major tourist destination. This arid zone region is characterized by a lack of potable water. However, in addition to the abundant solar energy, the region is also endowed with important wind and brackish groundwater resources with different qualities. Therefore, a brackish water greenhouse desalination unit that is powered by wind energy is a good solution for desalting groundwater for irrigation purposes in this region. Brackish water can be used to cool the greenhouse, creating the proper climate to grow valuable crops. Moreover, at the same time the fresh water that is produced in this system may be sufficient for the irrigation of crops grown inside the unit. In this study, five typical regions in the Sahara were selected and investigated. These regions were selected since they were areas of traditional agriculture. The frequency distributions of wind speed data were collected from Surface Meteorology and Solar Energy (SSE) statistics developed by NASA and evaluated for a 10-year period. The distributions were used to determine the average wind speed and the available wind power for the five locations. The results indicated that the available wind energy is a suitable resource for power production and can be used to provide the required electricity for the brackish groundwater greenhouse desalination units.