Chiaw Benard Owino, Dr. Gideon G. Kidegho, Dr. Michael J. Saulo

ABSTRACT

Wind power generation has experienced a continuous attention and investment in Kenya. In the interest of this research work, a number of researches have been conducted by World Bank’s funded “Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) and researchers in the academic institutions to estimate the potentials of offshore wind energy (OWE) in Kenya. The projections of such researches were that if wind energy, both at the onshore and offshore, could be efficiently harvested, it could give even more than enough supply for the Kenyan energy demand for her industrial and socio-economic development. However, no offshore wind farm has been established from such projections to boost the energy requirement and development in Kenyan coastlines. This research had been therefore, seeking to perform a comprehensive techno-economic feasibility and analysis from a virtual wind farm (VWF) model for the generation project along the coastal region of Kenya. The area of concern in Coastal Kenya is the Lamu Port, whose main energy consumers are the already three operational berths among the thirty two proposed berths. The research process entailed data collection, computer simulation and result analysis. Based on the Virtual Wind Farm model realized, a business model was realized by application software called Hybrid Optimization Model for Energy Renewable (HOMER), that was considered for the economic feasibility analysis in terms of Pay Back Period (PBP), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Net Present Value (NPV) and Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) to serve as the basic economic indicators to any interested investor and the government as well.

Keywords: OWE, Lamu Port, HOMER, PBP, IRR, NPV, LCOE