Posters

Abstract

Offshore wind is booming. With fierce competition for available lease areas, and the corresponding high lease prices that come with it, it is more important than ever to consider predicted wind resource and energy yield as only one piece of a complex development puzzle that is subject to the specific technical and regulatory challenges of each potential wind farm. Teams working on each aspect of the wind farm project – energy yield, foundation or mooring design, electrical, operations & maintenance – must consider the impact that changes to project parameters, which might benefit their area of concern, could have on every other aspect, in order to properly evaluate the impact on levelized cost of energy (LCoE). With case studies based on real-world experience, an example wind farm is designed from the ground up (literally). Starting from wind resource information and a target installed capacity, different turbine options and layout approaches are evaluated taking into account not only energy yield and wakes but also the impacts of regulatory constraints, electrical infrastructure, water depth, soil conditions and sediment transport on foundation and installation costs. Specific considerations for floating turbines such as shared anchors/moorings, are also discussed as well as the sensitivities of the project cost model to the uncertainties in each part of the analysis. By quantifying the impact of design decisions on LCoE, the design elements and uncertainties that have the greatest impact on project costs are identified and appropriate compromises and mitigations are discussed. It is shown that a holistic and collaborative approach between experts within (and often outside of) the developer organisation is required to ensure that decisions that might benefit one part of the design do not lead to an expensive surprise within another part and attendees will gain an understanding of the trade-offs and relative LCoE implications of different elements of this complex optimisation problem.