If we compare the Wind Atlas for Egypt with the map derived from the ECMWF data we can see that latter shows quite satisfying analogy in regions with less complicated and mountainous structures of the landscape – even if the structures depicted in the Atlas show more details. Therefore the conditions are quite well represented in the areas to the west of the mountains along the Red Sea. But extreme underestimations of the wind energy potentials can be seen in the area around the Gulf of Suez. Here the best locations might deliver almost three times the amount of electricity compared to the calculations based on the ECMWF data.
Other preliminary studies of wind conditions point to significant underestimations of the real wind conditions in large parts of the Sahara if the site conditions are derived from the low resolution wind data of the ECMWF. This would mean that there are many other sites within the Sahara which might be characterised by very favourable wind conditions forming a highly interesting and huge potential for future electricity generation in many different countries. This may provide the possibility of diversification of the origin of electricity of a future international electricity supply and furthermore may give the chance to benefit from the export of wind energy to many North African countries.