Feasibility of offshore wind energy as an alternative source for the state of Kuwait

The techno economic feasibility of offshore wind energy potential for Kuwait was assessed. The main objective was focused on selecting right locations for commercial wind mill erections. The measured wind speed from Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Kuwait for eight offshore stations during January 2012 to December 2015 was used and the parameters of Weibull distributions and wind power densities are estimated at an extrapolated elevation of 30-m from mean sea level. It is found that the best marine location was Beacon N6, just 3 km south of Boubiyan Island with wind power density of 583.2 W/m2 during summer. It was found that the wind power density near the coastal area peak in summer, which is good, since in summer, the demand for energy is high. The next highest wind power density was at South Dolphin and Ahmadi oil pier area, which is also closer to mainland. The wind power density was also found to be high at offshore locations such as Sea Island Buoy, Umm Al-Maradim, and Beacon M28 during winter. In Kuwait, the wave climate is moderate and the water depths are less than 20 m for most of the sites. Economic analysis is carried for a 50 MW offshore wind mill and is compared with 800 MW thermal power plant. From this analysis, it is found that power production/kWh from offshore wind turbines will be about 30% cheaper compared to the oil based thermal power plant.