Extreme Wind and Gust Speed at the Territorial Waters of Kuwait, Arabian Gulf

Abstract

Kuwait is planning to install wind mills in its territorial waters in the Arabian Gulf. For optimal design of offshore wind mills and marine infrastructures, extreme wind and gust speed for different return periods, say 25 yr, 50 yr and 100 yr is an important input. Without such information, the design will be either very conservative and expensive or unsafe. A scientific estimate of the extreme wind and gust speed is hence obligatory. Recently Kuwait has approved a multi-billion dollar plan to develop Boubyan Island into a commercial seaport to serve as the main gateway for Kuwait, Iraq and the surrounding region. Kuwaiti government is also planning to develop Failaka Island as a tourist hub in this region. Knowledge of extreme wind and gust will be required for appropriate design of all marine infrastructures in these islands. The present work is carried out for nine marine locations in the territorial waters of Kuwait. Extreme 10 minute average wind and Gust speed from different directions and for different return periods were predicted for these nine locations. Measured wind speed by the climatological office of Directorate General of Civil Aviation is used for this analysis. The extreme wind speeds are predicted based on Gumbel distribution. Within these 9 locations, the 10 min. average 100 year wind speed in the marine area of Kuwait from different directions is in the range of 25.5 to 33.0 m/s. Without considering the effect of direction, it is in the range of 24.5 to 33.5 m/s. Similarly, the extreme gust speed for 100 year return period from different directions is in the range of 38.5 to 77.5 m/s. Without considering the effect of direction, it is in the range of 38.0 to 92.5 m/s.