INVESTIGATION OF POWER SAVING BY INCORPORATING KITE OR BALLOON TECHNOLOGY ON BOAT IN MALAYSIA WATERS

Rising oil prices, increasing competition in the maritime industry, climate change and pollution are significantly more prevalent among the causes of the search of alternative energy other than the use of fuel. One of the forms of energy that is suitable to use by boats is the wind energy. Kite has been used by several types of ships in experimental stage to complement the main engine to move the ship. This study is describe a few subtopics on wind energy potential in Malaysia development of wind assisted ship devices and the major discussion on the feasibility of incorporating kite technology to move the boat in Malaysia (Terengganu) waters that have been selected to save the consumption of fuel. The amount of power saving was calculated using the formulae from the previous research. Then, economic assessment was carried out based on amount of power saving. Using kite propulsion technology, fuel consumption was reduced around 30% per year thus resulting in lower and operation costs on the particular routes. The results of the economic assessment indicate that, annual average cost for boat with kite sail is lesser than annual average cost for boat without kite sail. It is expected that the capital investment in the new device will be recovered within 9 years