Assessing the Potential of Wind Energy as Sustainable Energy Production in Ramallah, Palestine

Reviewer Comments

Authors' Answers, justifications, and modifications

Comment 1

The topic is important and has practical meaning.

The article does not display new products, it is worth adding original research elements

Thanks a lot for the valuable comments that contributed to improving the paper and we will follow your comments to improve our manuscripts.

The paper was reviewed and improved.

We did a recent review ‘Juaidi, A., Abdallah, R., Ayadi, O., Salameh, T., Hasan, A.A. and Ramahi, A., 2022. Wind energy in Jordan and Palestine: Current status and future perspectives. Renewable Energy Production and Distribution, pp.229-269.’ We concluded that all the previous studies is depending on old data or data for a short period. Since the New Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) 2020-2030 aims for 500MW of renewable energy, with wind energy accounting for 10% of the capacity it has become necessary to have a recent study that relies on recent data for several years.

It is the first comprehensive study in Palestine based on recent data using the previous six years of data (2016-2021), at intervals of three hours. The Weibull distribution parameters are calculated in seven different estimators and at four different heights (10, 50, 75, and 100m). Also, four different coefficients were carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the Weibull parameter estimators.  Furthermore, this study addresses an in-depth statistical study of wind characteristics and the energy potential in Ramallah, Palestine. Mean wind speed variations, Weibull parameters, the most probable wind speed, wind Speed Carrying Maximum Energy, and wind power density are all investigated. Additionally, using REtScreen Software, yearly power generated, capacity factors, and economic potential were calculated for fifteen wind turbines ranging in size from 0.5 to 5 MW and with varying hub heights. This current study will serve as a decision-making model for optimal and cost-effective investment in wind power in Palestine.

Please refer to lines 70-109

Comment 2

Please add the list of abbreviations e.g. PDF, PNA, GHG and many more

Thanks a lot for this comment.

Your suggestion has been taken into account. The list of abbreviations has been added. Please refer to line 488

Comment 3

What is novelty in this article?

Thanks for your comment.

Thanks a lot for the valuable comments that contributed to improving the paper and we will follow your comments to improve our manuscripts.

We did a recent review ‘Juaidi, A., Abdallah, R., Ayadi, O., Salameh, T., Hasan, A.A. and Ramahi, A., 2022. Wind energy in Jordan and Palestine: Current status and future perspectives. Renewable Energy Production and Distribution, pp.229-269.’ We concluded that all the previous studies is depending on old data or data for a short period. Since the New Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) 2020-2030 aims for 500MW of renewable energy, with wind energy accounting for 10% of the capacity it has become necessary to have a recent study that relies on recent data for several years.

It is the first comprehensive study in Palestine based on recent data using the previous six years of data (2016-2021), at intervals of three hours. The Weibull distribution parameters are calculated in seven different estimators and at four different heights (10, 50, 75, and 100m). Also, four different coefficients were carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the Weibull parameter estimators.  Furthermore, this study addresses an in-depth statistical study of wind characteristics and the energy potential in Ramallah, Palestine. Mean wind speed variations, Weibull parameters, the most probable wind speed, wind Speed Carrying Maximum Energy, and wind power density are all investigated. Additionally, using REtScreen Software, yearly power generated, capacity factors, and economic potential were calculated for fifteen wind turbines ranging in size from 0.5 to 5 MW and with varying hub heights. This current study will serve as a decision-making model for optimal and cost-effective investment in wind power in Palestine.

Please refers to lines 70-106

Comment 4

The problem of spaces (lack) in many places

Thanks a lot for this suggestion.

Your suggestion has been taken into account

The paper was reviewed and improved.

Comment 5

References need formatting according to journal rules

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Your suggestion has been taken into account

All the references have been formatted according to the journal rules.

Comment 6

Figure 1 “Increased” not “increased. The better is to show also cumulative values for each year.

Thanks a lot for this suggestion.

Your suggestion has been taken into account

The figure has been updated and the cumulative values for each year have been added.

Please refer to line 40

Comment 7

Below line 96 add information about the content of the article (sections).

Thanks a lot for this suggestion.

Your suggestion has been taken into account

A paragraph describing the different sections of the article is added

Please refer to lines 107-119

Comment 8

Equation (1), (2) – where is description of symbols? And the same in other equations.

Thanks a lot for this suggestion.

The description of symbols of Equations 1 and 2 is existing please refer to lines 162-165.

All the equations have been revised to make sure that a description of the symbols exists.

Also as your suggestion, a list of abbreviations has been added. Please refer to line 488.

Comment 9

Line 159 – what is CDF?

Thanks a lot for your question

CDF is the  accumulative distribution function

Please refer to line 165

Also as your suggestion, a list of abbreviations has been added. Please refer to line 488.

Comment 10

Table 1, add other statistics e.g. median, coefficient of variation, max values, selected percentiles

Thanks a lot for this suggestion.

Your suggestion has been taken into account

The variation coefficient, median,  maximum, and minimum wind speed have been added to Table 1

Please refer to line 226

Also, Figure 3 shows the monthly average wind speed (m/s).

Comment 11

Point 2.4.1 please add the figure of wind speed frequency (weibull)

Thanks a lot for this suggestion.

The annual Weibull distribution has been added after calculating the annual c and k.

Please refer to Figure 9 line 325

Also, refer to lines 320-322.

Comment 12

Table 2 “power(kW)” -> power (kW)

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It has been modified as requested

Please refer to Table 2 line 289

Comment 13

Figure 4 “seven” not “Seven”

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It has been modified as requested

Please refer to line 301

Comment 14

Line 300 50m, 75 m, and 100m) – spaces needed

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It has been modified as requested

Please refer to line 333

Comment 15

Figure 10 “10m” – space needed

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It has been modified as requested

Please refer to line 341

Comment 16

Table 3 - k is small but in Table 4 - K is big – please unify

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It has been unified as requested. It should be small

Please refer to Table 4 line 342

Comment 17

Line 412 – started from dot? Why?

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The dot has been deleted as requested

Please refer to line 446

Comment 18

Line 431-add information about the future works

Thanks a lot for the valuable suggestion that contributed to improving the paper.

Recommendations and future perspectives have been added as requested.

Please refer to lines 466-473

Reviewer Comments

Authors' Answers, justifications, and modifications

Comment 1

The manuscript entitled "Assessing the potential of wind energy as sustainable energy production in Palestine" deals with a topic which has a relevant practical issue and is therefore worthy investigating.

My overall comment regarding this manuscript is that I do not find scientific contribution in it. I have nothing against applied research (I do it, indeed) but an effort should be done for providing scientific contributions, which means methodological innovation and contribution to scholarship and knowledge. In my opinion, your article does not provide contribution because it is an application of well-established existing methods for providing a practical response to a question (how profitable can wind energy be in a certain region of Palestine?). The same exact kind of work could have been done by a consulting company and in fact you employ a software which is employed worldwide for commercial purposes in wind energy. Of course I appreciate the dissemination of information regarding the potential of wind energy in a certain part of the world, but I can't accept that this is considered scientific article.

Every time I encounter this situation, I suggest that the authors think about selecting one out of two strategies:

1) re-submitting the paper, even to the same journal, as a technical rather scientific paper;

2) doing an effort to provide a scientific contribution.

Therefore, my recommendation for this first round is major revisions because I do not intend to indicate rejection at this stage. I clarify that, in case a serious scientific effort will be missing in a revised version which is still proposed as scientific article, I will indicate rejection of the paper.

Thanks a lot for the valuable comments that contributed to improving the paper.

Thanks a lot for the valuable comments that contributed to improving the paper and we will follow your comments to improve our manuscripts.

The paper was reviewed and improved.

We did a recent review ‘Juaidi, A., Abdallah, R., Ayadi, O., Salameh, T., Hasan, A.A. and Ramahi, A., 2022. Wind energy in Jordan and Palestine: Current status and future perspectives. Renewable Energy Production and Distribution, pp.229-269.’ We concluded that all the previous studies is depending on old data or data for a short period. Since the New Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) 2020-2030 aims for 500MW of renewable energy, with wind energy accounting for 10% of the capacity it has become necessary to have a recent study that relies on recent data for several years.

It is the first comprehensive study in Palestine based on recent data using the previous six years of data (2016-2021), at intervals of three hours. The Weibull distribution parameters are calculated in seven different estimators and at four different heights (10, 50, 75, and 100m). Also, four different coefficients were carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the Weibull parameter estimators.  Furthermore, this study addresses an in-depth statistical study of wind characteristics and the energy potential in Ramallah, Palestine. Mean wind speed variations, Weibull parameters, the most probable wind speed, wind Speed Carrying Maximum Energy, and wind power density are all investigated. Additionally, using REtScreen Software, yearly power generated, capacity factors, and economic potential were calculated for fifteen wind turbines ranging in size from 0.5 to 5 MW and with varying hub heights. This current study will serve as a decision-making model for optimal and cost-effective investment in wind power in Palestine.

Please refer to lines 70-109

Also, this paper is neither the first nor the last to work in this way, and there are scientific papers published in respected journals with a high impact factor. Examples are:

·       Allouhi, A., Zamzoum, O., Islam, M.R., Saidur, R., Kousksou, T., Jamil, A. and Derouich, A., 2017. Evaluation of wind energy potential in Morocco's coastal regions. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 72, pp.311-324.

·       Baseer, M.A., Meyer, J.P., Rehman, S. and Alam, M.M., 2017. Wind power characteristics of seven data collection sites in Jubail, Saudi Arabia using Weibull parameters. Renewable Energy, 102, pp.35-49.

·       Bataineh, K.M. and Dalalah, D., 2013. Assessment of wind energy potential for selected areas in Jordan. Renewable energy, 59, pp.75-81.

·       Khahro, S.F., Tabbassum, K., Soomro, A.M., Dong, L. and Liao, X., 2014. Evaluation of wind power production prospective and Weibull parameter estimation methods for Babaurband, Sindh Pakistan. Energy conversion and Management, 78, pp.956-967.

·       Kassem, Y., Gökçekuş, H. and Zeitoun, M., 2019. Modeling of techno-economic assessment on wind energy potential at three selected coastal regions in Lebanon. Modeling Earth Systems and Environment, 5(3), pp.1037-1049.

·       Alayat, M.M., Kassem, Y. and Çamur, H., 2018. Assessment of wind energy potential as a power generation source: A case study of eight selected locations in Northern Cyprus. Energies, 11(10), p.2697.

And the list goes on………

Reviewer Comments

Authors' Answers, justifications, and modifications

Comment 1

To start with, I would like to thank the authors for their work in terms of used language and interesting topic

The paper under review analyzes Ramallah, Palestine's wind energy potential including the frequency and speed of wind. The analysis was carried out using WAsP method and covers period from 2016 to 2021. For the obtained results, 15 wind turbines with rated powers from 0.5 to 5 MW were assessed. The study revealed the option (a wind turbine) which best reflected Ramallah potential advantages. The study also recommends the energy cost in $/kWh for an appropriate selection of wind turbine models. So as to get high economic potential.

My remarks on the paper strengths are:

·         The theme of the article is in the SI journal topic  “Clean Energy Technologies and Assessment”

·         The structure of paper is good with all essential sections required for scientific papers

·         The abstract is adequate to article content

·         The conclusion gives the main findings

·         Data are presented clear.

·         Content is coherent and cohesive.

Thanks a lot for the valuable comments that contributed to improving the paper and we will follow your comments to improve our manuscripts.

Comment 2

The title should be rewritten. The paper considers only Ramallah, not the whole Palestine

Thanks a lot for this comment:

Your suggestion has been taken into account.

The Title has been modified as requested.

Please refers to line 3

Comment 3

References used in paper are often (or even mainly) are used to fill the reference list and not connected to the text. It is necessary to take only those sources considered during the research.

Thanks for your comment.

Your suggestion has been taken into account.

All the references have been revised and improved.

The references have been reduced from 65 to 53 references.

Comment 4

Impropriate self-citation is detected in high level

Thanks a lot for this comment.

Your suggestion has been taken into account.

All the references have been revised and improved.

The authors have now only one reference ‘ Juaidi, A., Abdallah, R., Ayadi, O., Salameh, T., Hasan, A.A. and Ramahi, A., 2022. Wind energy in Jordan and Palestine: Current status and future perspectives. Renewable Energy Production and Distribution, pp.229-269. ’

This reference is relevant to the subject of this study and cannot be omitted, and it relied upon more than one location.

Comment 5

Many references are used in sets which are used, first, to fill the reference list and not connected to the text, second, to hide self-citation. The best is the set [14-20] where authors cited themselves five times including the fact that information is widespread and does not require a citation as well

Thanks a lot for valuable comment and suggestion:

Thanks for your comment.

Your suggestion has been taken into account.

All the references have been revised and improved.

The references have been reduced from 65 to 53 references.

The authors have now only one reference ‘ Juaidi, A., Abdallah, R., Ayadi, O., Salameh, T., Hasan, A.A. and Ramahi, A., 2022. Wind energy in Jordan and Palestine: Current status and future perspectives. Renewable Energy Production and Distribution, pp.229-269. ’

This reference is relevant to the subject of this study and cannot be omitted, and it relied upon more than one location.

Comment 6

Line 199. Call out to Figure 1 does not correspond to Figure 1

Thanks a lot for the valuable comment and suggestion:

Figure 1 has been modified to Figure 3.

Please refer to line 222.

Comment 7

Figures should appear once they were cited in the manuscript. For example, Figure 3 is on page 8 while call out is on 10.

Thanks a lot for the valuable comment and suggestion:

All figures have been reviewed and they are called out as closest as possible to their appearance.

Figure 3 is on page 8 and call out is on 7.

Please refer to line 222.

Comment 8

Figures 12 and 13 are without calls out.

Thanks a lot for the valuable comment and suggestion:

All figures have been reviewed to make sure that they are called

Figures 12 and 13 are called out. Please refer to line 352.

Comment 9

I would support the paper for publication after revision, if authors keep a scientific decency and did not try to increase h-index by impropriate self-citation. The decision is to reject

Thanks a lot for valuable comment and suggestion:

Thanks for your comment.

Your suggestion has been taken into account.

All the references have been revised and improved.

The authors have now only one reference ‘ Juaidi, A., Abdallah, R., Ayadi, O., Salameh, T., Hasan, A.A. and Ramahi, A., 2022. Wind energy in Jordan and Palestine: Current status and future perspectives. Renewable Energy Production and Distribution, pp.229-269. ’

This reference is relevant to the subject of this study and cannot be omitted, and it relied upon more than one location.