Economic Analysis of Wind Turbines in Oil and Gas Platforms: A Case Study

Diesel generators or gas turbines located in the platforms usually do electricity production in oil and gas platforms. Using the above equipment, taking into account safety issues to prevent explosions and fires, as well as fueling them offshore, will be very expensive. In addition, the mentioned devices emit a significant amount of CO2 and NOx. Therefore, the use of renewable energy instead of fossil fuels can be much more economical and environmentally friendly. This study attempts to investigate the potential of using wind energy in the Persian Gulf and the feasibility and detailed economic analysis of using wind turbines on oil and gas platforms to provide part of the energy required. For this purpose, wind speed data are extracted from measurements at 10 meters, 30 meters and 40 meters above the ground. Average wind speed for the mentioned levels as 4.45 m/s, 4.99 m/s and 5.34 m/s respectively. In addition, it gives the annual power density as 128.36 W/m2, 173.80 W/m2 and 210.42 W/m2. The results obtained by using RETScreen software show that in this project with a life span of 30 years, the economic output of wind turbine systems is profitable, so that after 8.2 years, the entire cost of the project will return.