Economic feasibility of floating offshore wind farms in Portugal

Abstract

The objective of this article is to apply a method to determine the economic feasibility of floating offshore wind farms at Portugal continental coast. The method proposed has several phases: geographic, economic and restrictions. The objective of the geographic phase is to estimate the input variables that will be afterwards used to calculate the economic parameters in the economic phase. The restriction of bathymetry, the last stage, is then added to the economic maps previously calculated, whose value will be different depending on the floating offshore wind device chosen. In this study, two scenarios for electric tariff have been taken into consideration as well several floating offshore wind substructures: semisubmersible, TLP and spar. Results indicate what is the best floating offshore wind platform in terms of economic parameters and where is the best area, in the study region, to implement floating offshore wind farms.