INTEGRATION OF AIRBORNE WIND ENERGY WITH THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY

Abstract

The oil industry has regained a reputation of being a competitor to Renewable energy. With 
the ever-rising demand, towered energy and the momentum to shift into more sustainable solutions, a 
common ground between conventional and renewable energy production can be found by means of cogeneration. This paper presents a method of integration between oil and renewable energy namely Airborne 
Wind Energy (AWE) focusing on Kite technology with brief introduction into the kinematics and force 
distribution on airborne kites. Deriving an analytical model of the so called pumping cycle kites which its 
principal of operation is to mechanically drive a ground based generator, an insight into crosswind motion 
is presented and a formula to find the mean mechanical power is obtained. Along with a wind distribution 
profile on various regions in Libya using a Weibull distribution model calculated by iterative techniques to 
specify its constants. Using the model to compute electrical power generation on board the platform, operate 
distant wells or pumping heads. Followed by a case study on using such technology in offshore platforms 
and the impact it can carry on energy consumption in such platforms, presenting results in terms of fraction 
of energy generated to the consumption of the platform as well as savings in CO2 emissions. Presenting 
the possibility of expansion and scalability of such technology and its impact on the oil and gas industry in 
Libya.