Towards Sustainable Energy Generation: Analyzing Wind Power Potential, Financial Viability, and Environmental Friendliness at Nok Kundi, Baluchistan

Pakistan is blessed with versatile renewable energy resources, solar and wind energies. Coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan are the richest sources of wind energy, where adequate wind speeds are available for electricity generation. The Nok Kundi region of Balochistan has outstanding year-round wind speeds and tremendous potential for wind power generation. This study explores wind power potential, financial viability, and mitigation of carbon footprints. In this regard, simulations on the analysis of wind power potential, and financial viability are conducted in the ETAP and HOMMER software respectively. The data regarding the energy demand of Nok Kundi is obtained from Quetta Electric Supply Company (QESCO) Quetta and the data on wind speeds is obtained from the World Weather Online platform. The ETAP software is used to conduct the load flow analysis of a grid-connected system. The full financial analysis considered the state-of-the-art wind power installation site of 40 megawatts capacity to meet Nok Kundi's energy demand. Furthermore, the simulations are conducted in two scenarios i.e. isolated and grid-connected systems. Financial assessments (including the calculation of required capital and operating expenses) are conducted for both isolated and grid-connected systems by using HOMER software. According to the findings of the research, the grid-connected system provided significant benefits in terms of revenues and seamless grid connections. The proposed wind power plant can potentially help reduce the carbon footprints. The present research concluded that the proposed wind power plant can produce 47,581,913 kWh/year and at the same time can mitigate the generation of 47.20 million Kg of carbon/year and an average of 3.93 million Kg/month. This research contributes to providing a detailed feasibility of wind power plants from financial and environmental perspectives. This study addresses Sustainable Development Goal# 13 (SDG 13: Climate Action).